Zero: Heart of a Hunter
by JimVan
Summary: Zero begins his search for the Dark Elf, gathering a party of unlikely allies and enemies. But as the hole in his heart grows ever more deep, will one of them be able to fill it? AU after MMZ2. Rated PG-13 for some adult references and graphic combat.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man Zero, or any of its characters. They are the legal property of Capcom. I do, however, own any other characters you may see in this story. Now that this formality is over and done with...

Author: Hey there. This is my first Mega Man fic. In this story, Zero searches for the Dark Elf after her escape from Neo Arcadia. He begins to realize (again) just how lonely the life of the warrior can be in his search. Ciel meanwhile, is fighting to control her unnatural feelings about the crimson hunter as she grows up, unable to believe what she is dreaming, yet yearning to surrender to it...and at the same time, Fairy Leviathan, reaping a kind of twisted, savage pleasure in her battles with Zero, and the mercy he shows her, begins to wonder which kind of longing falls on her when she sees him. Results: Trembling hearts and jealous battle, questioned loyalties, and one troubled red reploid on the road to the Dark Elf.

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Zero: Heart of a Hunter

Prologue: The Story So Far...

_This document concerning the recent turmoil was compiled from the entries of the computer journal of General Sage Harpuia, formerly First Guardian of Master X of Neo Arcadia._

_In the less recent years, during a long era of peace following the destruction of the viral entity known as 'Sigma', the legendary blue reploid warrior known as Mega Man X worked tirelessly to build the new nation of Neo Arcadia to serve as the sanctuary of humans and reploids forever. With the destruction of most of the other human and reploid authorities during the last of the Maverick Wars, most welcomed the idealistic leadership of the great legend himself, and Neo Arcadia became a thriving nation with hundreds of thousands of peace-seeking humans and reploids putting aside their differences and living together. _

_Unfortunately, such peace does not often last sadly enough._

_At one point, after working in the field of the recent Cyber-Elf research with his assistant, a human scientist named Ciel, X seemed to suffer from terrible mental trauma and, it was believed at that time, fled Neo Arcadia, weeping and inconsolable. It was not revealed until recent years that the 'souls' of the thousands of reploids Master X had retired were finally calling out to him, and X could only hold his grief for so long. Ciel, his assistant, did her best to attempt to maintain order in Neo Arcadia during his absence, but being a mere young human girl, she lacked the necessary respect and toughness to control some of the more belligerent citizens of Neo Arcadia...particularly in the case of the First and Second Guardians of X, Sage Harpuia and Fighting Fefnir, who rather unwisely brushed off the advice of the young scientist and began enforcing harsh new military control policy in the absence of their master to maintain order._

_With this bad turn of events, some, though only a fraction, of the population of reploids began to treat humans as second class citizens and new reploid-only organizations and societies were founded by them, particularly in control of some of the major industries and research. Angry at the treatment that these reploids gave them, humans began to riot throughout the nation, demanding a return of equal rights in Neo Arcadia. Eventually, the situation started to become violent despite the best efforts of the remaining Neo Arcadian government. Cursing themselves for fueling the ambition of the 'trouble-making reploids', Harpuia and Fefnir worked night and day to subdue the uprisings and restore order, promising the humans a return to Master X's 'equality' policy. This, in turn, made the 'trouble-making reploids', who were then ever more frequently being referred to by the old word 'mavericks', angry also, as they were becoming very comfortable with their new power._

_With the threat of a new civil war drawing ever closer, Master X's assistant, Ciel, became desperate to halt the uprisings of humans and reploids in Neo Arcadia. She realized that the nation once again needed a strong and heroic leader to stop them..._

_It was by then widely believed that Master X had gone mad and was not returning to Neo Arcadia. Yet the day when the very same legendary hero, or so it was thought, marched back through the gates of his temple fully restored and strong as ever to resume his place as leader, was the day that sent ripples through the nation. Immediately, when beholding X's stern face over every holo-screen in Neo Arcadia, the reploid population fell silent and listened to their master's booming words. For a short while in Neo Arcadia, order was restored without bloodshed by the hand of X._

_Again, it was not discovered until very recently that this 'Master X' was in fact not the real X at all, but rather a copy of him built by Ciel to maintain peace in the absence of the real Master X, who had never actually fled Neo Arcadia and rather barricaded himself under heavy guard within the High Temple in net stasis to wrestle with his memories once and for all, as well as maintain the power of Neo Arcadia from his own body. _

_It is now also known that X did this not only for selfish reasons. He had another purpose in doing so. One of his last discoveries before the end of the Maverick Wars was the support program known as the cyber-elf, which was believed to be created from the DNA 'soul' of the reploid, the same way that the 'angel' is formed from a human soul. _

_One particular cyber-elf that X discovered was, for reasons known only to him, especially important, and quite powerful. This elf was 'cursed' to have no knowledge of right or wrong and acted as a complete innocent, healing or destroying at a whim. With such power under her command and no particular guidelines for its use, this elf could only be described as dangerous. _

_X at first tried to teach this elf, but when she began exhibiting hidden programming which made her violent and uncontrollably manic, X was forced to seal her away inside the very same temple where he came to rest later. It was discovered later that X was concerned about the elf, as well as the fact that the master computer she was trapped within was starting to fail under her power, and X himself went into stasis with that computer to contain and converse with the elf, who was later, because of her chaotic reputation, referred to as the Dark Elf by those who knew of her existence._

_But in the real Master X's confinement, the 'Copy' X with whom Ciel had replaced him seemed to become a greater threat to peace than any other in Neo Arcadia, perhaps even the Dark Elf. Though Ciel was not aware of it at that time, she had mistakenly used a piece of Sigma virus-infected DNA found at the one of the Eurasia Craters to power Copy X's body when she went looking for archaic parts similar to the ones used to build the original X. _

_Unlike all other previously documented cases of Sigma infection, the virus' effect upon Copy X seemed, for reasons still unknown, to push his anger towards the reploid population of Neo Arcadia rather than the humans. His infection was not known of until recently with his destruction, which released an identifiable, if archaic, negative energy signature which was recognized by the scientists as that of the ancient mavericks. This information was, for obvious reasons, not disclosed to the general population._

_But in the days prior to his destruction, Copy X terrorized the Neo Arcadian reploid population, accusing the vast majority of them of attacking the humans in his 'absence'. He called them 'mavericks', using the same term that the humans had come to use for the ambitious reploids when the Guardians enforced martial law. Though some reploids had committed criminal acts during that period, most of the reploids that Copy X accused were actually innocent. Copy X faced many doubts and questions from his own high command in his decision to capture and retire these 'mavericks', but X overruled those who would listen and terminated the rest as a warning to the others. _

_Generals Harpuia and Fefnir, who knew of Copy X's true identity, were not the last in objecting to his plan, but they had no choice but to obey him. It was believed in later years that Copy X had ordered the creation of his Third Guardian, Phantom, in order to keep an eye on Harpuia and Fefnir, and to terminate them quickly at any sign of rebellion against his will. The newly created Phantom was fanatically loyal to Copy X and would never budge in his blind obedience to his orders. _

_Harpuia and Fefnir were wary of the new Third Guardian for a long while before they accepted his company. More pleasing to them was the following addition of the powerful reploid female, Fairy Leviathan, as the Fourth Guardian. Leviathan was a reploid who was created shortly after the end of the Maverick Wars and the founding of Neo Arcadia. She served loyally as a reploid battalion commander until coming to Copy X, openly questioning him about his actions in a blatant example of the boldness of her nature. It is not known exactly how or why, but Leviathan was convinced by Copy X to join the Guardians and assist them in purging Neo Arcadia._

_When, for an unknown reason, energy shortages appeared in Neo Arcadia, Copy X accused the reploid population of draining energy for themselves and ordered the purge to begin. It is now suspected that Copy X himself was responsible for the energy drain, as the reploids could not have been in any way responsible without detection._

_Ciel, panicked and ridden with guilt at the massive wave of bloodshed at the hands of her creation, began to take another course of action. She planned at first to awaken the original X from his slumber to set aside his copy, but Copy X was a step ahead of her. He had placed a powerful garrison within and around the High Temple with the command to fire on all unauthorized entry and changed the access codes to the Temple Network, thus making it impossible for Ciel to contact X either physically or electronically._

_Sensing that Ciel was a threat to his rule as she disappeared from her residence, Copy X issued orders for Ciel's arrest along with that of the 'mavericks' and sent his Guardians to collect her. The Guardians found no trace of Ciel for several days however, and returned to the citadel and Copy X's anger empty-handed. It was reported the day following that, in a bold stroke for the scientist, she had gathered a large force of reploids and forced her way out of the Neo Arcadian capital via the gates._

_Ciel and her reploid refugees joined up with many 'wild' factions of repoids as well as the refugees that followed from the Neo Arcadian capital when Copy X's purge continued, and they formed a semi-militant organization with became known as the 'Reploid Resistance Forces', or simply the 'Resistance'._

_The Resistance originally placed Ciel as their leader and gathered in a small, abandoned subterranean power plant beneath the deserts close to the Neo Arcadian capital to begin a guerilla campaign against the military rule in Neo Arcadia._

_Ciel doubted, however, that this course of action would ever bring peace and it would merely lead to more violence and hatred between human and reploid. She did not doubt she was on the right 'side', but rather than acting by force, Ciel sought to restore peace by developing an alternate energy source that would allow the Resistance to seek a nation of their own away from Neo Arcadia._

_But the Resistance, in spite of large numbers in armed forces, were badly equipped and had little military experience of any kind. They long fought a losing battle against the Neo Arcadian forces who swept the desert looking for them until Ciel received an anonymous report from an unknown source giving her the coordinates of a 'super soldier', as it appeared on the report. The coordinates indicated an ancient energy mine in the jungles near Neo Arcadia that had long been abandoned and cleared of any useful equipment and resources._

_Nevertheless, Ciel trusted the report, and, in a controversial move questioned by her Resistance Command, traveled in person with a small escort to the mine to seek out the subject of the anonymous message. Unfortunately for her, her force was detected by a Neo Arcadian probe that relayed their location to a nearby garrison. Ciel's escort fell under attack before the entrance to the abandoned mine, with her and her remaining soldiers forced to barricade themselves within the mine to find a way to escape._

_It was deep within the recesses of that mine that Ciel discovered a shattered stasis capsule, and the subject still resting within perfect net stasis, though his body was damaged beyond repair._

_Ciel had found Zero. The legendary Maverick Hunter and partner to Master X in the years of the Maverick Wars. Zero had been lost since the end of the Maverick Wars, and his location had been unknown to all except Master X. Even X's copy did not know his location._

_Subduing her amazement when the Neo Arcadian forces broke into the mine, Ciel was somehow able to resurrect Zero and rebuild his body. It is believed that she did this by the use of her cyber-elf companion; there is no other explanation judging from the state of Zero's resting place as later documented._

_The newly-revived Zero single-handedly destroyed all of the attacking garrison and escaped with Ciel following his awakening. Having lost his memory during his period of stasis, Zero was disoriented and confused at first, but he gradually recalled some of his memories and began working for the Resistance._

_This was the turning point in the war. Zero was, and is, perhaps the most powerful reploid warrior in the world next to Master X. Though his actual origins are shrouded in mystery, enough is known about Zero's history in the Maverick Wars to know that he was going to be no small inconvenience to the Neo Arcadian forces. At first, Copy X planned to merely stampede Zero with the bulk of his forces, but to no avail. When that failed, Copy X then sent his Guardians to battle Zero. Fefnir and Phantom, of course, only too eagerly engaged Zero in battle, getting their egos being badly bruised in the crushing defeat they received from him. Harpuia, on the other hand, at first tried to convince Zero to join Neo Arcadia, but Zero, knowing of Copy X's true identity and Neo Arcadia's anti-reploid policy thanks to Ciel, refused Harpuia flatly and defeated him when he attacked._

_Leviathan, typical for her, first tried to beguile Zero into joining Neo Arcadia by pretending 'interest' in him. Zero did not attack Leviathan at first and rather pointedly asked her to leave him. It was only when Leviathan attacked that Zero fought and defeated her._

_Still, despite her crude methods, she probably came closer to her goal than the other Guardians did. _

_Eventually, Zero penetrated alone into the heart of Neo Arcadia, seeking Copy X, and answers. Copy X at first tried to convince Zero to join him, but when Zero made it clear that Copy X's misuse of his former partner's name angered him, the two battled beneath Neo Arcadia for hours._

_The explosion that night that shook the very ground of the Neo Arcadian capital followed by the failure of most vital computer systems and AI complexes in Neo Arcadia showed that Zero's defeat of Copy X was more than just an illusion._

_Zero disappeared after that, and Neo Arcadia was in turmoil. With Copy X gone, the remaining Guardians were forced to declare martial law again and maintain Copy X's brutal policy to prevent Neo Arcadia from falling apart while they attempted to resurrect him. They were tempted to awaken the real Master X, but they still could not, as Copy X's encryption of the access codes and channels to Master X's resting place in the High Temple still prevented it even with the copy gone. Phantom had destroyed himself in his last battle with Zero in the desperate attempt to keep Zero from his master, but to no avail. His passing had greatly weakened the Guardians' authority, but they still somehow managed to keep Neo Arcadia together with the minimum of panic. The Guardians ordered the war to continue against the Resistance to forestall public suspicion. Besides, Harpuia, Fefnir, and Leviathan, for reasons understood only by warriors, had developed their own rivalries with Zero, and fighting him slowly became an obsession for each of them._

_Zero, however, was no longer with the Resistance. After his defeat of Copy X, he had gone underground for a year and fought valiantly against any enemy he could see, partly in grief at missing the real X, partly because he yearned for his true purpose, and partly because he could not face Ciel. In spite of all the hope he had given the Resistance, Zero was consumed with disgust for himself, much the same way as X had once been. Fighting and killing had been Zero's whole life, and he was weary of needless bloodshed._

_Zero eventually became worn down and weakened by his constant exposure and battle wounds. While he was seeking the Resistance to rejoin them when his grief abated, Zero collapsed. It was Harpuia who found him then in the desert near the recently abandoned Resistance base. Harpuia was tempted to kill him while he was unable to resist, but the strength of his desire to fight Zero again was too great for him to bear. _

_Harpuia dumped Zero outside the new Resistance base in the Outlands, knowing only too well where it was, but yet not daring to directly attack the then-strong Resistance. Harpuia's move was bold, but his rivalry with Zero overruled his reason on that occasion._

_Zero was soon discovered and healed by the Resistance forces and he rejoined their ranks under their new leader, Elpizo, a somewhat eccentric young reploid whom Ciel had named as the military leader of the Resistance so she could focus on her research. Ciel had revised her plans for a new energy source and now planned to present it as a gift to Neo Arcadia to negotiate peace and allow the reploids back into Neo Arcadia._

_Overjoyed to see Zero again, Ciel asked Zero for his support in her plan, and Zero, feeling Ciel was his only 'friend', agreed. Elpizo, however, did not share Ciel's vision of peace or Zero's respect for her wishes. Elpizo thought, perhaps rightly, that Ciel's plan was naïve, over-trusting, and quite unrealistic in its goals. Despite Zero's and Ciel's pleading, Elpizo launched a full scale assault against the Neo Arcadian capital shortly after Zero rejoined the Resistance, intending to smash the government and win back the reploids' sanctuary by force._

_Had it not been for the Guardians, he might have succeeded. Elpizo's forces were decimated and Elpizo himself was badly wounded. Zero arrived in time, confronting the Guardians, much to their delight, to rescue Elpizo. It was then that Zero realized just how strongly the Guardians wanted to face him._

_Shortly after Elpizo was rescued however, he disappeared, leaving behind a message that he had a new plan to destroy Neo Arcadia. For both the Resistance and Neo Arcadia mild surprise became strong alarm when it became apparent that Elpizo was planning to free the Dark Elf that X guarded and use her power to destroy Neo Arcadia and build a new reploid-only utopia. Elpizo fought his way through Neo Arcadia, pursued by Zero who frantically tried to reason with him, defeating the Guardians and eventually somehow cracking the protection that led to X's stasis chamber and the computer mainframe that housed the Dark Elf. Zero pursued Elpizo, following the Guardians' plea as they were unable to stop him themselves, and entered X's resting place, where Elpizo was waiting for him._

_Frozen by Elpizo's power, Zero could do nothing but watch in rage as Elpizo pierced X's chest with his beam rapier and released the Dark Elf when both X and the computer exploded._

_Having freed the Dark Elf, Elpizo was transformed by her power into some kind of super-reploid. He released Zero and attacked him mercilessly with all of the Dark Elf's energy. Zero, once again displaying amazing power and combat skill, narrowly overcame Elpizo and was forced to kill him. What other events occurred in the chamber afterwards are known only to Zero, but the Dark Elf was seen by both the Resistance and Neo Arcadia to escape from the Temple._

_At this turn of events, Neo Arcadia once again erupted into turmoil as the news spread of the Dark Elf's existence and the real X's demise. The Guardians tried hard to maintain order, but powerful enemies emerged from the populace and began challenging the Guardians for rule of the nation. Harpuia, Fefnir, and Leviathan knew that Zero had failed to stop Elpizo from destroying X and releasing the Dark Elf, and as such were unwilling to make peace with the Resistance in spite of the fact that Zero had saved Neo Arcadia from Elpizo. _

_They were, however, forced to halt their offensive against the Resistance and recall their forces to restore order in Neo Arcadia while they attempted to continue resurrecting Copy X, leaving the Resistance temporarily unconfronted. Their hold over the Outlands was then unchallenged, and it seemed the Resistance might have had the chance to rest, had it not been for Zero's disturbing news that the Dark Elf had escaped._

_Ciel, remembering the dangerous entity's innocence and sudden violent actions, ordered the Resistance into action again to find the Dark Elf and attempt to seal it. Zero, on the other hand, was intrigued by the Dark Elf for some reason and wished to seek her out. In spite of the fact that Ciel named him the new Resistance leader, Zero took to the field more often than ever, seeking the Dark Elf, for reasons known only to him._

_Neo Arcadia too, sought the Dark Elf to recapture her and halt her potential threat. Within the Neo Arcadian capital, Copy X was also being slowly rebuilt. It was a dark and dangerous time for both Neo Arcadia and the Resistance. New enemies were appearing all over the world, threatening to take power. Peace, it seemed, was not going to be an easy thing to achieve._

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Yes, yes, I know it doesn't sound like a romance fic. But don't worry, it'll lighten up a bit with the next chapter. Until then, please R&R.

Jim'Van


	2. Crimson Hope

Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man Zero, or any part of the Mega Man series or their characters. They are the legal property of Capcom. I do, however, own any other characters in this story. Are you still reading this? I'm impressed.

Author: Hey there. First chapter for you, set shortly after MMZ2. Enjoy it, I hope. I warn those kind enough to read my work that, although action and romance are the main genre of this story, I thrive on drama and angst as well, and there will be pieces of those scattered through the story also. All reviews, minus flames, are welcome, and I plan to maybe have review polls somewhere to decide some of the key turns in the plot in future, so watch this space for more info if you're interested. Until then, enjoy. Oh, and thanks to Phantom Kensai for the info.

(P.S: I'm kind of glad that one of the few things Genocideking and Shadowknight agree on is my work, heh.)

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Zero: Heart of a Hunter

Chapter 1: Crimson Hope

The battle was over.

At least that was the way it seemed.

Ever since Zero's return that month ago, most of the Neo Arcadian military had withdrawn to the capital to restore order, and the battle-weary Resistance could rest at last. With their hold on the Outlands beyond Neo Arcadia finally unchallenged, the Resistance had occupied and reactivated key resource structures and plants, strengthening and expanding their power base.

Most of the Resistance would call the red reploid a hero for his role in the withdrawal of Neo Arcadia's oppressing forces, but at that moment, that particular reploid felt like anything but a hero.

Zero sat alone on the roof of the Resistance base, gazing out at the sunset that streaked the cloudy sky in shades of pink and orange.

Yet again, it had happened. He had saved Neo Arcadia, and the Resistance, but at what cost? Elpizo was dead, the Dark Elf had escaped, Neo Arcadia was in turmoil...and most grievous of all, X's body had been destroyed. Zero knew that X could not take physical form again, and he would exist as a cyber-elf forever.

He stood up and sighed, stretching his stiffening synthetic vascular filaments and shivering with relief as he relaxed.

_No point worrying...what's done is done...but what now?_

Zero's memory flickered back to High Temple. The Dark Elf was loose, and from what Ciel had told him, that was hardly a good thing. She had no knowledge of right or wrong, and a powerful entity needed only to command her to wreak havoc and destruction and she would do so.

Over the last month, at Ciel's urging, the Resistance had been sending recon drones as well as common recon patrols, using their new technology, in the attempt to locate any traces of the Dark Elf, from suspected sightings to negative energy trails. But so far, she seemed to have completely vanished.

Zero sighed and went down from the roof as his energy core alarm went off. He had indeed been sitting on the roof and pondering for five straight hours.

_Time for some fuel._

As Zero descended in the elevator to reach the mess hall, he remembered that he had to meet Cerveau to go through the drones' data from that day.

He sighed. _Leader's formality. Of there's one thing I remember from my past life, it's that we have to go to the solution...it won't come to us if it didn't at the start._

Even though Ciel had named Zero as the new Resistance leader a week ago, he hardly ever needed to give out any particular order or do any extra heavy work, as most Resistance work was set in stone at the moment anyway with regular patrols and guard duty, along with the scouting missions. Neo Arcadia had turned inward to restore order within her own borders, and special operations, minus Ciel's research, had been put on hold to allow the Resistance forces to focus on seeking the Dark Elf.

Of course, there was paperwork by the stacks, but Zero managed to slip out of that by saying he was still not familiar enough with the present world to do the administrative work. After that, it had instead been passed on to Cerveau, who had the knack for doing that kind of thing efficiently (if reluctantly). So Zero was still free to take to the field. A leader in name and nothing more.

The elevator whirred to a stop at one of the underground levels.

The mess hall in the Resistance Base was crowded with off-duty Resistance soldiers who had returned from the early afternoon patrol shifts. Zero entered the hall and walked towards the kitchens. As a reploid, he could simply plug himself into an energy source for recharge, but he preferred to refuel the human way and eat. The super-enzyme catalysis solution in his repli-blood broke down food energy so easily and quickly that it just seemed a waste of time to hook himself up for an hour.

The cook, Chow, a cheerful white-aproned reploid, stood behind the kitchen counter, smiling and giving out food trays to the soldiers who passed by.

"Chow?" Zero said wearily.

The cook turned and grinned at him. "Busy day, sir?"

Zero shook his head. "Not quite. Have you got anything for me?"

Chow reached under his counter and produced a tray of beef for Zero.

Nodding in thanks, Zero took the tray and went out to find a table in the hall. The place was very crowded, and it was a while before Zero spotted an empty table. He sat down and began to stir his food idly, his mind wandering down dark roads.

_The Dark Elf is missing, and all I can do now is just sit here and wait. Come to think of it, why am I still here? The Resistance are safe, and I can't help them with much now. Maybe I should just go and try to find the Dark Elf myself. I'm a warrior, and warriors don't sit around and do nothing except patrol. I'm sure Ciel will understand if I..._

_Ciel._

Thump!

He felt a tremble on the table, and looked up.

Ciel set down her tray on his table and sat down opposite him.

"Hi Zero." She smiled tiredly. Her radiant blue eyes were wrapped in dark circles and her movements looked stiff and fatigued.

_Man, has she been in the lab all day? This girl never rests._

"Hey Ciel. Another big breakthrough, huh?"

She smiled. "Is it that obvious?"

Zero smiled back. "Yeah, I'm afraid so." He chuckled, and then decided to try pushing his luck. "Don't worry. You're still almost halfway cute."

Ciel mock-snarled at him, but her eyes were smiling. "You're horrible."

Zero's smile cracked into a grin. "I know, but you love me anyway, don't you?"

Ciel blushed slightly. "Zero!"

"Heh, sorry."

They both turned to their food. It seemed, with all the stress and everything they faced in the Resistance Command Center, the relative peace of the mess hall was the only place where both of them could try to forget their problems and enjoy themselves, if only for as long as their food lasted. It was like two separate worlds, one with and one without violence.

For that reason, both Zero and Ciel tried not to talk about the war whenever they had the chance to eat together. But sometimes, when it wore so heavily on them, neither of them could help it, and their conversation inevitably went in that direction. This was probably going to be one of those times, Zero could sense it.

However, Ciel seemed to be unusually silent as they ate.

"What's up, Ciel? Something wrong?"

She looked up at him, and then down at her plate, and then she sighed and placed her spoon down on the tray.

"Zero...it's just...too quiet!"

Zero nodded slightly in agreement. "Yeah, I feel that way too..."

There were another few seconds of silence, and then they both began to eat again. Ciel was really on the edge, Zero could see, and not just because of the war...there was something else. He did not push it...he could see that Ciel wasn't going to speak up so easily.

She was so open with him, and yet, at the same time, so closed up. He knew the Ciel who was the Resistance strategist and head scientist, but the other Ciel before him now was almost a stranger to him.

_One day, I'll change that, Ciel. You've been a good friend to me._

* * *

Five hours later, Zero lay on his bed, doing his best to sleep. As a reploid, he could sleep anywhere, even standing up, but the idea of a bed made it more comfortable somehow. Even so, reploids could still be kept awake by mental unrest just as humans could.

He tossed and turned in his bed until finally giving up and sitting up. His room was dark and quiet. It was late into the night, and most personnel and soldiers had likely turned in for rest, leaving only a few personnel to watch the base. Few were the eyes that now scanned the horizons, even after only such a short time since...

Zero shook that thought out of his head and glared at the suit of armor on his wall.

His armor pieces hung on pegs in a body shape, grinning down at him from the wall. It was like it was another reploid, saying to Zero: _This is what you are and what you were made for_.

_But this is me...not the armor_, he thought, looking down at his body. Without the armor, he looked almost completely human.

Zero then looked up again and around. There was so little he had in his room with him. Aside from his armor and weapons, he had virtually no possessions: no pictures, no furniture, no pieces of identity. He didn't really have any use for them either, being what he was.

_Still_, he thought, _this is my home now. Maybe I should try to let things down a bit. Get some identity together, try to recover some of my memories...have a life besides that of a soldier._

He sighed then.

It was an impossible dream...at least for now. He had a Dark Elf to find and hostile enemies to fight. Maybe, when it was all over, he could try to build a new life, as well as remembering his old one, but now, the only way to live was as what he was: Zero, the crimson hunter.

That thought made him rub his face in frustration.

_Darn it X, where are you? If you could only tell me...then I might be able to bear it, but at his rate, I'll..._

Zero finally threw back the sheets from around his waist and got out of bed. He clenched his teeth slightly as he stood. He was clad only in his sleeping pants and his thermoreceptors were going haywire.

Not wanting to wait for his internal heater to kick in, Zero simply strode huffily to the pile of clothes next to his armor and pulled on a vest.

_Practice_, he thought, as he pulled his Z-saber from the holster on his hanging belt.

Practice was good when he felt this way. It cleared his mind.

Zero stood straight with his eyes closed, feeling the saber in his hand for a moment.

He felt the warrior instinct within him roaring into life at the touch of the weapon.

His face lost all expression and every synthofilament in his body snapped taut and waited.

He opened his eyes and slid one of his legs behind the other into a fighting stance, activating the Z-saber. The greenish blade pulsed and thrummed in front of him, singing to its master of battle and blood.

"_Keeeyaah!_" Zero swept the saber in a full horizontal arc, stepping forward and pivoting on his other foot to face the opposite direction. The tip of the saber glowed in the same spot his face was a moment ago.

"_Shaaaiii!_" He kicked off the floor and did a double-flip, spinning his saber in around him and landing in a half-crouched vertical slash.

_Move, stab, back, slash, twist, pivot, jump back and strike._

The Z-saber became a blur of green light as the reploid moved at the speed of lightning in his _kata_, cutting into enemies only he could see.

After a couple of minutes, Zero was forced to slow down because of the growing heat stress in his joints. He stepped too far and lost his balance, but he did not topple over. He kicked neatly off his back foot and landed in a lavish, but painless crouch.

He sat there, panting and sweating. Like all reploids, he sweated a coolant filtered from water to keep his surface temperature at normal level.

Zero heard a light gasp behind him and turned towards the door.

* * *

Ciel slept fitfully, her mind embroiled in visions of complex scientific theories. She had been battling her formulae and scientific research all day. Ever since Elpizo's death and Neo Arcadia's withdrawal from the Outlands, she had seized the chance to finish her research without interruption.

One thing about Ciel all the Resistance agreed upon: the poor girl worked too hard. She sat in her lab before the computer screen all day, working furiously to keep the hope for peace alive. She had learned so much from X - everyone could see that - but even he would have had trouble with the almost-infinite magnitude of the research Ciel was carrying out. Zero had once asked her how exactly she was narrowing down the method of isolating so much energy, and he had left her lab twenty minutes later, pale and shaking. (That little episode was the subject of a great number of jokes among the Resistance soldiers for a while.)

Nevertheless, despite Ciel's determination, her body was not coping well with the stress. Her body had shrunk to a frail shell, and her eyes were almost constantly encircled with dark rings. She had aged three years in one.

Many of the Resistance, Cerveau in particular, who knew Ciel best, recommended to her that she rest for a while, but she refused to listen and said it was more important to finish before she ran out of time.

But lately, Ciel's psyche was starting to play tricks on her, as could be seen in what was happening to her now. She went to bed late every night with her mind buzzing with complex theories and proposals. Now her dreams were raring up every night, awakening her and making her feel that she was wasting time sleeping, after which she had got up and gone back to her lab in the middle of the night to keep working, without sleep.

It had been happening frequently over the last month. Only two days ago, Cerveau had found Ciel face down on her desk, snoring her head off. After that, he insisted that she take a break, but she had snuck out of her room after he escorted her there and back to the lab, muttering to herself under her breath.

It was happening again, but tonight would see different results.

Ciel sat bolt upright, pale and shaking. Her pink sleeping clothes were drenched with sweat, her strawberry blonde hair mussed and messy, and she felt light-headed and nauseous.

Ciel snorted to herself and swung her legs out onto the floor.

"Wasting time..." she muttered quietly.

She stood up and stepped into her bathroom for a shower, emerging five minutes later in a pink bathrobe. She quickly changed into her usual pink outfit and lab coat lying on a chair next to her bed.

Ciel may have been a pretty and smart young girl when you knew her, but when it came to her private room, she was basically a complete slob. Her clothes and belongings were scattered over the floor and furniture, and the paperwork on her small table was stacked haphazardly and looked likely to just collapse any moment. It wasn't that it didn't bother Ciel. It did, but she simply didn't have the time to clean up, and Ciel feared that if she allowed the Resistance's primitive maintenance robots in, they would throw away some of the hard copy notes she left on the table when she came back from the lab most nights. So her room remained untidied.

After rummaging carefully through the stack of paperwork, she pulled out several of the notes she had made on the last power couplings in her research apparatus and tucked them into her coat. She strode to her sliding door into the corridor and opened it a crack, peering out. She knew there was a regular sentry who patrolled this corridor at night, and she wanted to avoid any awkward questions.

She immediately spotted him turning from a far corner and shrank back slightly, closing the door as he passed. After a moment, she opened it again and saw that he was gone. Sighing, Ciel opened her door all the way and stepped out of her room. She began walking down the corridor towards the command center and her lab.

She turned into the corridor holding the reploid dormitories. It was dark and quiet, but Ciel could not help but shiver at the eerie silence.

She walked past each of the doors, taking note of the marking sign.

_A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, B-3, Z-0..._

_Z-0..._

Ciel stopped.

She could see a greenish light flickering in and out in Zero's private room beneath the door.

_Zero? He's awake? What's with that light?_

Curious, she stopped and stared at his door.

"_Kyaaah!"_

Ciel jumped as she heard the unmistakable sound of Zero shouting behind his door.

_Zero!?_

Ciel was usually too polite to invade others' privacy, but in her present, sleep-deprived state, her curious instinct took over with little resistance and she edged closer to his door, touching the automatic open disable pad and sliding the door open slightly. She peered through and gasped slightly.

Zero was crouched on the floor with his back to the door, clad in white sleeping pants and a vest, his figure illuminated in the pale green light of the Z-saber in his hand. His hair, free from the restraints of his helmet and hair band, cascaded in long golden strands down his back, almost touching the floor. The green light of the saber threw into shade the fine lines of his body and cast a luminous sheen on the film of sweat on his skin, showing the ripple of wiry synthomuscles in the lean frame of his bare shoulders and arms.

Ciel blushed slightly at the sight and quickly looked down. She finally realized what she was doing as her consciousness caught up with her.

_I am such an idiot! I shouldn't even be peeping like this. I'd better get out of here before..._

Too late. Zero had heard her gasp and he whirled around.

* * *

_Ciel?! What the – what's she doing here?_

Zero stood and deactivated his Z-saber, staring at Ciel, who was staring back through his door.

He just looked at her for a moment, then he spoke. "Why don't you come in, Ciel? What are you doing up at this hour?"

Ciel, looking sheepish and red in the face, slid open his door and stepped inside. Zero clicked his desk lamp on and set down his Z-saber.

"Sorry Zero, I shouldn't have peeped like that. I just saw the light under your door and I heard you shouting, and...well..."

Zero smiled slightly. "I see, so we've caught each other. Why are you up anyway?"

Ciel hesitated, and Zero had a flash of realization. He had heard all about Ciel's workaholic insomnia from Cerveau.

"Oh man, you were going to the lab, weren't you? Ciel, you've got to stop doing this. Everyone's worried."

Ciel looked up, with a flash of anger in her eyes. "Zero, I can't afford to waste any time. We've got the opportunity I need to finish my research, and I have to finish it before Neo Arcadia comes for us again. This may be our only chance to stop the war for good!"

Zero sighed. "Oh, come on Ciel. You're too smart to think I'm not right."

She hesitated, and then deflated slightly. "Yes, you are right, Zero. All the same, I just can't lie down and sleep now...with the end so close...and not knowing how much time we have. Please understand, Zero."

He nodded. "I do...but that's still no reason to wear yourself out like this. I was thinking about this today in the mess hall. I don't want to upset you Ciel, but right now I think you're pushing way too hard, even for the time limit we have. But you could probably afford to tone it down a little. If you think about it, even after the clean-up in Neo Arcadia, they'll have to keep their forces there a while afterwards...you know, to keep the peace and do the housekeeping and all that."

Ciel blinked, and Zero could see he had raised something she had never realized before. Her face reddened slightly, and she looked down. Zero stifled a chuckle. It wasn't often one could put Ciel in that situation.

"Let's just sit down, okay?" He sat down on his bed and motioned for Ciel to join him. She nodded and sat down beside him.

"You work really hard, Ciel. You really amaze me..."

Ciel smiled slightly. "Are you trying to flatter me out of this, Zero?"

He shook his head. "Hardly. This is all going to be finished soon if you can make that energy source. I know Harpuia and the others never really wanted this war, they were roped into it, and now they know it was the work of a mad reploid. They wouldn't throw away this chance to end it if they just had the right excuse...your research..."

"That's why I have to finish it, Zero!" Ciel blurted, interrupting him.

Zero nodded. "Indeed, but I think...they withdrew all their forces because they wanted to give you time...not because they needed all their troops."

Ciel looked stunned again at Zero's words. She had obviously never considered that.

"But...it's not all at the whim of the Guardians, Zero."

"That's true too, but I think even the Neo Arcadian government is tired of this war, now that they have so many other enemies as well. Why fight the Resistance anymore when they have no reason to? And when the Resistance gave them the energy resources they needed to stand against the others?" Zero smiled.

Ciel nodded, her face brightening considerably. "So you're saying that we have more time than we thought, Zero? That they're waiting for us?"

"Yeah, Ciel. That's why I want you to take it easy. You need rest."

"I'm fine."

"Ciel..."

He suddenly stopped speaking for a moment. Zero somehow had the feeling that he had done this before...sitting up at night talking...in another life, with another friend...or was it a friend?

He glanced sideways at Ciel, and then up at the ceiling. Was she supposed to look like that?

_I've been in this situation before. When was it? Aaack, I can't remember! Someone...another on now, think!_

As he thought about it, he quite failed to notice that his arm had somehow instinctively found its way around Ciel's shoulders.

She jerked slightly, but even though she stared at Zero, she did not pull away immediately.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Zero suddenly realized where his arm was and jumped.

"Oh...sorry Ciel." He pulled away, feeling his face grow slightly warm. Even repli-blood could cause a blush.

"You got lost, neh?" she chuckled, slightly red in the face herself.

Zero shook his head. Ciel's eyes widened slightly at the angry look on his face.

"I'm sorry."

Zero turned and looked at Ciel again. "No, no, it wasn't you, Ciel. I was just thinking..."

She stared at him. "Thinking about what?"

"..."

"Come on Zero. I'm your friend."

Zero sighed and rested his arms on his knees, glaring at his upturned palms in frustration.

"It's...I just remembered something, but it's like I couldn't remember it all...just the part that doesn't make sense on its own...and I know there's something else to it, but I don't remember what. It's just so annoying sometimes!"

Ciel nodded. "When you..." she blushed slightly, "held me, you mean?"

Zero hesitated, and then nodded. If he couldn't trust Ciel with this, then who could he trust? He knew what his affirmation implied though...

Ciel spoke slowly, as if choosing her words carefully.

"Zero...all your memories...I know it must be frustrating for you. I'll help you get your memory back when this is all over...I promise. It's the least I can do after everything you've helped me with."

He nodded slightly in gratitude.

"Zero...I don't want to intrude, but...can you remember much from your past?"

"Just a little. Flashes, you know? Not much at all."

"Zero..." Ciel looked a little uncomfortable. "What you're doing now, and the way you said you felt when you disappeared last year...I think, something you remember makes you think this is all wrong, right?"

Zero grimaced. Had his behavior really shown that much? He smirked sideways at her. "You're too smart for my own good, Ciel."

She chuckled lightly. "Please Zero...tell me what you know. If nothing else, it might help me recall some history that might make sense to you, and help you recover some more memories."

Zero sighed. Like he had just told her, his memories were like shattered glass.

"Ciel, you look really tired and so am I. Why don't we just talk about this another time?" He stood to make his point. "C'mon, I'll escort you back to your room."

She frowned, but she reluctantly stood up. "So unbending, Zero?"

_Ciel, you have no idea how much I want to talk with someone about this, but this just isn't the right time or place._

"I'll tell you later Ciel. But now, I think you should just get some rest."

They walked out of Zero's room and down the corridor.

Ciel was silent beside him. When they reached her door, she opened it and stepped in. She turned to face Zero, gazing down.

"Zero...I..."

Zero sighed and shook his head, flicking his unrestrained hair out of his face.

_Man, will she ever stop arguing?_

"Ciel, I know what you're going to say. C'mon, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Just go to sleep now. In the morning we'll discuss it all you like. Look, I'm here to help you do what's best. After all, what are friends for?" He shrugged dramatically and smiled sheepishly at her.

Ciel just stood there, staring at him. Her mouth slowly curled into an amused smile.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Thank you, Zero...but I was just going to tell you your pants are slipping. Better tighten them up before something happens."

Grinning, she hit the close pad and her door slid shut.

Zero blinked and looked down.

* * *

"..._Zero..."_

"_Zero, it's me."_

_X?_

"_Yes..."_

_X, where have you been?_

"_I'm sorry, Zero."_

_Look, please tell me..._

"_No, I'm sorry, Zero. For now, it's best I don't."_

_What?_

"_Zero...I don't have much time. They'll come for me soon. Please listen to me."_

_Who are 'they'?_

"_Zero, you must find the Dark Elf. If they find her first...there will be no hope left in this world."_

_What? But we can't find her anywhere. What's going on?_

"_Come to me, Zero. south to the Lesiu Pass. We will be waiting for you. Hurry!"_

_X!_

* * *

Zero woke up with a start and bolted upright in his bed.

"X?"

Silence. He looked around his room. Nothing.

Suddenly, an echoing alarm sounded through the base.

_Warning! Warning! Attention all Resistance forces! Arm and assemble in shuttle bays! Prepare for deployment! This is not a drill! Commander Zero! Your immediate presence in the Command Center is requested!_

Cursing, Zero slid out of bed and quickly donned his armor.

_This doesn't sound good. Better get there quick._

He slid open his door and dashed through the corridors, his golden hair fanning out behind him.

He opened the door to the command center to see Cerveau and Ciel, who looked pale and shaken, waiting for him, along with several of the Resistance officers.

They all stood in the main pillar of the Resistance Command Center before the enormous display screen. He saw Sheela and Merem, the two operators, sitting in their usual seats before their holo-monitors, giving each other worried glances.

"What's going on?"

No-one said anything for a moment. Cerveau eyed Zero and then glanced meaningfully at the commander's chair, which had remained empty since Elpizo's death.

Zero's digestive unit did a somersault at the thought of what Cerveau was implying, as it was he who had sealed Elpizo's doom...but...

He glanced at Ciel, who implored him with her eyes. He groaned inwardly. Obviously, whatever it was, it meant taking this charade a step further.

Zero strode over to the commander's chair and sat in it, pulling his most serious expression onto his face.

Ciel spoke slowly. "Commander Zero...we've just received a distress signal from the Neo Arcadian capital."

Zero raised one eyebrow. "They're calling for help?"

Ciel nodded. "We should aid them, Zero. It might mean..."

"Commander Zero!" Merem interrupted. "We still have the transmission they sent. Shall we replay it?"

Zero nodded. "Put it on screen."

Sheela's fingers waved over the display screen control console.

"Replaying transmission."

The grey pool flickered and vanished to reveal a jade-green helmet and a familiar face.

* * *

Author: Whew, next chapter up. As usual, please R&R. Next chapter will flick to what happened in Neo Arcadia during this one. Can you guess whose POV? Anyway, love you all, readers.

Jim'Van


	3. Jade Hawk

Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man Zero, or any of its characters. They are the legal property of Capcom. I do, however, own any other characters in this fic unless specified otherwise. Are you still reading this? I'm impressed.

Author: _Xin chao!_ I'm back again. This chapter focuses on Neo Arcadia. We'll see the Guardians, and maybe one or two others.

To the reviewers:

Rioni Riishu: Thanks so much for your continued support. I'll keep it up.

Genocideking and Shadowknight: Ho ho, trust me, I've had a lot of experience coming up with excuses for missing paperwork. I'm a medical science major, so that's how I come up with the crazy names for Zero's systems. And to answer your question, yeah, I gave the operators the names.

Uzu-Chan: Yeah, I know he's a cyber-elf, but the definition of reploid 'death' isn't really that well-established. Let's just say in this case that the word 'death' refers to the cessation of life as a reploid, even if it is to start something else. And the prologue: I said 'compiled from' Harpuia's journal, not 'written in' Harpuia's journal. That aside, I'll give you plenty of great chapters, don't worry.

Well, enough from me. I'll let Sage take over for a while (yeah, congrats to those who guessed right).

* * *

Zero: Heart of a Hunter

Chapter 2: Jade Hawk

"Where are you going, Sage?"

Harpuia turned and stormed from the briefing room, leaving a fuming Leviathan and Fefnir behind him. Not bothering to answer their query, he merely smashed his fist against the wall and kept walking.

Such pointless, childish displays of anger were usually beneath him (they were Fefnir's forte), but at times, Sage Harpuia just could not help himself.

_Chaos._ That was the only word for it. _Utter chaos!_

The three of them had just returned from the Crione district, a human-populated area in the capital which had been in a state of uproar. The rioting humans were demanding a removal of all the reploids from the city and government, and establishment of an all-human regime. Their leader was some human vigilante his X-drones had dragged off to the detention center an hour ago. Harpuia himself had at first confronted the rioters under a flying gesture of parley and had attempted to get their leader to back down. However, the crazy fool made it clear by firing a plasma pulse grenade at him that he was in no way interested in backing down before Harpuia.

Harpuia had barely dodged the missile and then called for the riot control drones and his fellow Guardians to clean up the mess. There were many humans, but they were badly equipped and rounding them up and sending them home under house arrest would have been easy, had it not been for the fact that all the Neo Arcadian forces had to work with were a few knockout gas cartridges and their bare hands. Subduing a riot without hurting anyone was definitely not Sage's favorite task.

Fefnir very nearly went maverick when one of the more foolish humans went up behind him and hit him on the head with a truncheon. He probably would have torn the struggling man apart if Harpuia hadn't flown over and kicked him away. After about an hour, most of the humans were all rounded up and placed under arrest, escorted to their homes and locked indoors with X-drones on guard. Some others scattered and managed to escape. The leader was taken to the government detention center for detainment and questioning.

The human government, however, were not at all pleased with the Guardians and their handling of the situation. Harpuia's parley had failed, and most of the human leaders were upset that he had not managed a more diplomatic solution than an all-out street brawl. Sage had attempted to explain that he was attacked, but humans were hardly noted for listening to a reploid's explanations anymore. They had said that more fighting between humans and reploids would anger even more of the population, and lead to more frequent uprisings.

Harpuia and the Guardians had been dismissed from their hearing with the warning of removal from their government posts if they did not produce better results. Swearing under his breath all the way back to the Military Command Center, Harpuia once again reminisced about the days of X.

_They would never have spoken to you that way. Master X...how we all wish you were still here to guide the reploid race..._

_And who do I have to thank for the fact that you are not..._

Harpuia was no longer sure whether he blamed Zero for failing to protect X from the mad Elpizo. He certainly had Zero to thank for the removal of Phantom and Copy X, which came as a relief to him, though he long kept that secret. Then again, he could also hold Zero responsible for much of the turmoil in the nation now, as well as the drastic weakness of the Guardian Forces.

_So who is right? Me or him?_

The same question he had asked himself time and time again. Harpuia had recently been getting the reputation of a dreamer, particularly from Fefnir and Leviathan's point of view, because of his constant pondering.

After their arrival, the Guardians had erupted into a heated argument about their handling of the human riot. The number of angry citizens was sky-high, and many of their reploid soldiers would be in the repair ward for days.

Somewhere deep down, Harpuia knew that he and his companions were merely tired and stressed, and it was all coming out.

True, it had been the fifth riot that month, in between constant demands for more protection in certain areas of the city, although the two reploid uprisings had been more brutally efficient in their handling. Harpuia barely had time to sleep or eat with all the military intervention needed in the nation, and he ached almost continually in some places (particularly in the head). Sage's jade-and-pearl armor was cracked and scratched in more places than he could count from the constant scuffling, and his face now sported a long, red scar from ear to jaw, courtesy of an over-bold reploid brandishing a knife. His synthoflesh was hardly likely to ever heal completely, as he was now so busy he had no time for any thorough medical attention or armor repair.

Fefnir and Leviathan had been taking similar damage, and Leviathan was in the cosmetic ward for facial restoration so often that Harpuia did not doubt that the med officers wanted to strangle her.

The danger of reploid uprising was also growing more severe. There had already been reports of some reploid citizens stirring up the local populace and attempting to form factions within the capital. Few of the reploids were attempting to join the Resistance anymore, as they were now far away in the Outlands, and it seemed that the reploids who had not yet left were those who believed the Neo Arcadian propaganda about them anyway.

The Dark Elf...their other problem. She had completely vanished and they had not yet the time or resources to set up a full-scale search for her. The First Guardian had contacted some of his special agents and instructed them to search for her, but they came up with nothing. Sage was sure that there was nothing that he and his fellow Guardians could not find if they merely bent all their effort into it. The only problem was, at the moment, that was the one thing they couldn't do.

The energy shortage had risen to the critical level, and there was barely enough left to power the city, let alone develop more weapons and droids to deal with national security. So the Guardian Forces were being summoned for every single little disturbance to ensure minimal casualties among the remaining X-drones and reploid soldiers.

It was housekeeping. All matters of housekeeping...

Harpuia permitted himself a small groan at the thought of all the paperwork waiting for him in his office.

_If I have to write 'result unconfirmed' one more time..._

"Sage!"

Having cooled off slightly, he turned to see Leviathan running towards him, puffing slightly and clutching the dent on her breastplate.

Harpuia sighed and started walking again as she caught up to him. "Not now, Fairy."

"Wait, Sage!" She fell into step beside him. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off at you like that..."

"Save it!" He snapped at her. He pointed to the dent in her breastplate. "And you'd better get out of that and fix it before your respiration chambers are damaged. Anything else to tell me, put it on paper!"

He was then abruptly halted in his tracks by the head of a spear pointed at his throat.

"Listen to yourself, Harpuia!" Leviathan hissed, clenching her teeth and looking likely to burst into tears at any moment. "Listen to us all! Look at us all! This just can't go on, or we're all going to crack!"

The half-furious, half-hurt look on Fairy's face smacked Sage's eyes and brought him back to himself. He clenched his fists for a moment, and then relaxed. "You're right."

He slowly reached up, and pushed the spear blade away with two fingers, and then, with a somewhat sheepish demeanor, clasped her forearm in a friendly gesture.

"You really are right. I'd be expecting this from Fefnir, but you...and me..."

Harpuia shook his head and sighed. He then straightened and assumed his commanding pose.

"Your handling of the situation in the Crione district was most masterful, Fourth Guardian Leviathan." he said formally. "You and Fefnir have permission to bypass command duty for the remainder of the day. Please go and rest." A softer tone.

He heard the clunking footsteps of Fefnir approaching, and he turned. Neither of them said anything when their eyes met, but Harpuia could tell that Fefnir had heard, and understood.

They nodded to each other silently and Fefnir and Leviathan departed silently. The air was thick with despair and frustration. It made Sage almost want to retch.

He shuffled to his private office, pulled off his helmet and placed it on the desk, wincing at the stack of unfinished reports on the holo-screen and his writing board. Sage collapsed onto the resting couch with a groan, his long, light green hair cascading over his face.

_A nap_, he thought, relieved he had no messages coming over the autoscreen. He rose and pulled off his armor, exposing his white body suit. He locked the door before falling back onto the blessed softness. He rubbed at his new scar.

_Riots, street brawls, upstarts, government pains, paperwork, and spats with Leviathan and Fefnir! How could this get any worse?!_

_Oh well, at least I can hope I wake up and all's quiet._

Within seconds, his breathing was regular and his body limp as he shut down, not even bothering to set his internal alarm.

He failed to notice however, what was awaiting him beneath his helmet. The roll of pictures was bound with wire and stuck with a note.

_Sage,_

_I kept scouting as you requested. I think I've got something._

_The energy trail that left the Arcus Chasm passed by the crashed aircraft in the Outlands and vanished near the Lesiu Pass._

_It might be the Dark Elf, but I don't know for sure. Negative signatures have been frequent and widespread recently._

_But I've discovered something else, something very strange. There's a small reploid army encamped in an underground shelter about 300 kilometers to the south of the capital. They number about five hundred from my guesses, and they don't bear any insignia I recognize. They seem to be preparing to move towards the capital._

_Sage, I think you should look into this. Whoever they are, I doubt they're friendly. I've given you the pictures I managed to take without being seen._

_We will meet again soon, Sage. Be well._

* * *

Fefnir groaned with sleepy disappointment as his internal alarm threw shock currents across his body. 

_Mental note to self: remove the 'he's too lazy to respond so zap him' function._

(Author: In this story, let's say Fefnir has an Aussie accent. Seems strangely fitting, neh?)

Sitting up in the chair he had fallen asleep in, Fefnir groaned once more before standing and making for the door, emerging into the corridor beyond. He was overdue for his inspection of the weapon drone production...like that was really a fat lot of good. The production had been frozen for days, and the conveyor belts were stuck in place. There simply wasn't enough energy left to keep producing drones. Fefnir just wished they would shut down the darned project instead of having him draft the same 'on hold' every time.

He winced slightly at the memory of the thunderous argument he and his fellow Guardians had thrown earlier that day.

_What's going on? We've never fought like that before. They see me and they think dumb old muscle-headed Fefnir can't understand a thing, but they're wrong. I know what's happening, and I know frustration when I smell it..._

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an X-drone clanking towards him and saluting. It spoke slowly in a low speaker buzz.

"Master Fefnir, First Guardian Harpuia requests your presence in his office immediately. He commanded this unit to relay this message, as your autoscreen was deactivated, and to report that your inspection duty today has been cancelled."

Fefnir groaned in irritation at the drone's emotionless monotone before pushing it aside and making for Harpuia's 'office', if you could call a temporary living quarters, a desk, and a closet full of weapons that.

_Inspection's been cancelled, and about time too_ he thought. _But if he's summoning me, something must be up. Leviathan's probably on her way too. I'm getting so bored staying here in this city wrestling with upstarts when we should be out searching for those mavericks and more importantly, Zero._

That thought made lust for battle bubble up in Fefnir's circulatory passages. Grinning insanely at it, he straightened his back and quickened his pace.

_Sooner this is over with, the sooner I can get back to that..._

As he passed through the corridors to Sage's office, Leviathan emerged from one of the chambers and silently fell into step beside him. At a glance, Fefnir noticed that she looked far worse for wear than he did, particularly in terms of the iron-hard scowl on her face as she rubbed the swollen black eye she had picked up in the riot. No doubt about it, whenever her face was damaged, she was in a bad mood, as Fefnir had seen earlier when she stuck her spear into Harpuia's throat.

He chuckled slightly at that memory, and Leviathan turned her head to glare at him.

The two of them stopped before the door to Harpuia's office.

"Any idea what this is about?" Fefnir asked, turning sideways to look at Leviathan.

She shook her head and hit the open pad. The door slid open with a hiss, and the two Guardians entered.

"About time..." Harpuia was sitting at his desk in his armor, his helmet off and his green hair cascading over his shoulders. He was reading the reports on his holo-screen.

Flicking it off, he wheeled in his chair with a sigh to stare at his fellow Guardians.

"Have a seat, you two. This isn't good." He gestured to the empty chairs before his desk.

Fefnir snorted. "So what else is new?" He strode to the chair and sat in it, followed by the unusually silent Leviathan. Both she and Fefnir knew from experience that, when Sage asked them to sit before he started talking, it was going to be something they wouldn't like.

The green-haired Guardian reached into a stack of pictures on his writing board and drew out one of the film sheets. He fed it into the holo-projector next to the board and clicked it on.

A hologram filtered out of the projector's nozzle and hovered in the air before their heads. The holo-projector, a fairly recent technology, had been one of the last works of the reploid scientist Cerveau before he fled with the Resistance. It was pure genius that the machine could mimic the shape of the objects in the picture from the mere shading in the photographic impression and project them in three dimensions.

Fefnir gazed at the shape before him. He sighed audibly.

It was just a stupid little wasteland area. What was it? Their next patrol?

Harpuia heard him and glanced at him sharply.

"Take a closer look, Fefnir."

Fefnir obliged and squinted at the hologram. He saw wreckage and ancient ruins scattered across the land, but nothing special. He turned and looked inquiringly at Harpuia, who sighed and pulled the picture out of the projector. The hologram vanished.

"Maybe this one will mean something to you..." He muttered in a low, exasperated tone before taking another picture and sliding it into the projector.

The next hologram displayed, though faintly, guards set before a set of double doors arising from the cliffside. The double doors looked large and heavy, with a triangle shape running across each to form an 'infinity' symbol. Fefnir recognized that symbol as having belonged to a band of dissident reploids that they had hunted down and exterminated long ago in the complex beneath that cliff near the twin Arcus and Herus Chasms.

But what made him frown was the holo of the two guards standing next to the doors, frozen in mid-conversation. They were both animal-design reploids. One of them had a great tiger's head and long red claws sticking out of its arms, and the other had a wasp-like face over what looked like a segmented body and a pair of wings.

Fefnir was puzzled. Animal-style reploids had long been labeled inferior and obsolete in the years following the Maverick Wars. They had been proven time and time again in that era to be not as capable as humanoid reploids...probably due to the fact that they were not built to mimic human emotions and instinct.

Nowadays, almost 95 percent of the reploids built were humanoid, and the only animal-type reploids built were the special projects of Neo Arcadia, which had been enhanced for better performance. But they were still few, and Zero had destroyed most of them already...

Harpuia nodded at the look on their faces. "Yes. Those reploid types were thought to have been eliminated a long time ago...but look at this..."

He switched the picture in the holo-projector several times, displaying holograms of the animal-reploids moving in and out of the complex, sometimes alone, and sometimes in groups, and sometimes even carrying what looked like heavy artillery and bombardment weapon parts.

"That doesn't look good at all...but Sage, why show us this here? Why not in the briefing room? Surely this is something that requires an investigation?" Leviathan's eyelids were dilated in thought.

Sage shrugged. "We're already in enough trouble with those blowhards in the government. If I give a formal briefing for investigation, they'll get a record of it. Then I imagine they'll order us to make a full crackdown on these reploids and retire them before we can so much as sneeze." His voice sounded tired and exasperated as he said that.

"Okay, so we won't be doing that...then what will we do, Harpuia?" Fefnir was starting to get impatient. _Those guys don't look friendly...and if they're that close, I say take them out now._

Harpuia sighed and flicked off the holo-projector. He sat in his chair again, the stiff leather squeaking at the contact, and picked up a sheet lying on his writing board.

"They're obviously an army of some sort, and this says that there are perhaps about five hundred of them. Not too many it seems, but with all those huge weapon transports we saw, I'm betting there's more of them out there. For now, we lie low and spy on them, and search for any others. If possible, we find out who's behind all this and what their intentions are."

"Why not just attack them now? If there are more of them out there somewhere, wouldn't it be better to strike now before they all join forces?"

"Fefnir, we don't even know for sure if their intentions are hostile."

"Don't make me laugh! Look at all those weapons! If they aren't planning a siege, I'm a junk pile!"

Leviathan's face contorted slightly next to him, and Fefnir turned to glare at her. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking! So knock it off! I'm serious. They look like a threat."

Harpuia nodded gravely. "You're right for once, Fefnir. It does look like a siege team. All the same, an army that size can't do much against us on its own, and I'm going to take precautions so we can monitor their movement and activity. If they come closer, then we attempt to stop them, but for now, we stay here and try to put down the immediate threat first."

"Which is?" Leviathan asked.

"The insider." Harpuia said, anger suddenly evident in his voice. "We should have known of this sooner. That wasteland is out of patrol range, but our satellites should still have picked up this reploid army before. Either the monitoring staff are all doing a lousy job, or someone, or something, was trying to stop us from finding them. We need to find that someone, my fellow Guardians."

One of Leviathan's eyebrows shot up. "You mean you didn't get this information from the monitoring station, Sage? Where did you get it then?"

_That's a point _Fefnir thought. _Where could he have...oh, I get it._

Fefnir grinned and looked sideways at Leviathan. "Looks like our green comrade here has been keeping in touch with someone."

Both the green and blue Guardians set their jaws as Fefnir knew they would. He leaned back in his chair, chuckling. "All right, shutting up now."

* * *

"Who's in charge at your office?" Harpuia asked bluntly, pointing to the human representative before him. 

The man quaked under the green reploid's stare. "Ahh...umm...Mr. Dyson I believe, sir, the director."

Sage sighed and thrust his document into the man's hands. "Please take that to him then. I believe someone in your department isn't working right. Give Mr. Dyson this document and tell him to read it immediately."

"Umm...sir, I believe you could just send it to him electronically. I'm not sure if I could meet him for several hours yet."

Sage shook his head. "No. There's a chance whoever was behind the failure in your reports is also watching the system, and I don't want to take the chance that your boss may just ignore the message anyway. Now go. You have my thanks." Harpuia pointed the quivering man out of his office.

He scurried out and Harpuia sighed again as he shut the door behind him.

_Honestly. You'd think I was ten feet tall with horns and a tail, the way he was acting._

There was a familiar beeping sound from his autoscreen.

_Oh, for the love of..._

Harpuia stomped to his desk and flicked on the autoscreen, plugging the audio link into the terminal behind his ear.

"Guardian Harpuia. This had better be good." He said grumpily, though when his mouth moved, no sound came out. The audio data was being transmitted via the link.

The autoscreen displayed one of his unit's reploid lookouts on the walls of the capital.

'Words' passed between them for a moment.

Then the Guardian leapt out of his chair.

"WHAAAAAT?!!!"

* * *

Harpuia briefly considered raising the alarm, but there was no point. 

He ran quickly down the corridors, pulling on his dark cloak as he did, and then, cursing the slowness of his feet, activated his boosters and flew down the narrow corridor at breakneck speed.

"Sage! Where are you...Whoa!" Leviathan jumped aside, narrowly avoiding the flying Guardian.

"W-what's with him?"

Sage sped on, eventually to the end of the dorm corridor and crashing out through the window. The glass shattered around him and glistened like crystal in the moonlight, but the Guardian was beyond caring what his scene looked like.

* * *

The maintenance bot controller groaned as he witnessed it through the surveillance. 

"That's the eleventh time this week!"

* * *

He flew on, cranking his boosters to maximum velocity and pushing all his effort towards reaching the outer battlements of the city walls. He soared like a brilliant jade hawk over the city, the moonlight glinting off his armor as he flew. The Guardian's face was set with determination, synthomuscles rippling along his jaw and cheeks flushed by the cold night air. The wind blew stray locks of hair free of his helmet and the lime-green bangs fluttered over his forehead and temples. 

At last, the walls drew beneath him, and Sage slowly deactivated his boosters, landing with a thump on his heels.

The reploid captain who had contacted him hurried over and saluted, as did all the other guards.

"At ease!" Harpuia said quickly, waving away the formality. "Where are they?" He asked the captain bluntly.

The captain pointed for an answer. Lying beyond the eastern battlement lay the glowing plains of the desert. By moonlight, the rays glistened across the sand and cast a silvery sheen over the endless dunes of sand.

But that was not all he saw.

Lights. Hundreds of them stretched all across the horizon. They flared brightly and high.

The captain offered him a pair of optic enhancers.

Harpuia seized them without a word and placed them to his eyes, turning the knob on the side for distance. They automatically adjusted to the focus with each new distance. They were pinprick, but he could make it out.

Reploids.

Hundreds of them.

Sage cursed under his breath. To his knowledge, there weren't meant to be this many reploids left in the world, let alone Neo Arcadia.

"Where did they all come from?!" He snarled aloud, clenching his fist and startling every guard on the battlement at the apparent rage of their calm, calculating commander.

The Guardian pulled the optics from his face, stuffed them into his belt and flicked on his wrist-com.

"Fefnir! Leviathan! Come in!" He shouted urgently into the com.

"_Leviathan here. What's up, Sage_?"

"Recall the patrols and order all our forces to mobilize immediately and prepare for deployment in the command center! Wake up whoever's acting as our government contact and tell him there's a reploid army beyond the east wall!"

"_What!?_"

"There's a reploid army on the eastern horizon in the desert, Leviathan, and I'd wager anything they're connected to the one south of here too. This looks like they are planning to besiege us after all if they come from two sides!"

Leviathan's voice shook slightly as she responded.

"_I'm getting right to it. It may take a while yet to mobilize all of our forces. Sage, are they moving?_"

Sage nodded for a moment, and then he stopped, thinking how stupid that must have looked.

_I get careless when I'm excited_ he decided, massaging his temples with a groan.

"Yeah, Leviathan. They're on the march. I'd say we have a few hours before they get close enough to say hello."

"_At least you can't trans an army that size...so we've got some time._" Fairy's voice sounded breathless and hurried, as though she was already running. "_Sage, how come we didn't know about this before?_"

"Same reason we didn't know about the ones south of here, I expect. A mole." His voice was bitter and angry. "I'll have a nice, long chat with the security forces about this later..."

Suddenly, there was the static hum of another wrist-com being activated on the channel.

"_Harpuia, are you serious?! Another reploid army!_" Fefnir sounded like he didn't believe it.

"Think I would be waking you up and giving out these orders if I was pulling your leg?" Harpuia shouted into the com, irritated that Fefnir hadn't joined in until now.

"_This doesn't make sense. The only substantial reploid faction in Neo Arcadia was the Resistance._" Leviathan.

Harpuia nodded again, then he cursed a second time.

"_What's the matter?_" Fefnir.

"I'm stupid."

"_I know, but what's the matter?_"

The green Guardian growled into the com. "This is no time for jokes! Just get those forces ready! I'm going out there to see what they're up to!"

"_What!? Sage, wait! It's too dangerous to go out there alone!_"

"A risk we'll have to take. I'll contact you when I return."

He slapped the com back down onto his wriest before they could argue and turned to the captain.

"When a larger garrison arrives, captain, step down from the battlements and take your squad to set beacons on the High Temple. Three green beacons. Is that understood?"

The captain looked puzzled for a moment at this strange order, but he quickly straightened and saluted. "Understood, sir!"

Harpuia nodded and leapt over the battlement, activating his boosters.

_This might be necessary to raise their morale. They looked shaken_ he thought.

The faintest flicker of a smirk crossed his face before he soared vertically upwards and twirled dramatically in mid-air as he reappeared before the guards' startled faces.

He twirled and hovered and let out his almighty hawk's cry before turning and speeding towards the moonlit desert, trailing jade energy.

* * *

Harpuia flew for almost half an hour. He was getting close, but he was confident they had not seen him yet. He could use the optics in his belt right here and now, but he wanted to get all the details. 

Sage wondered whether or not he should conceal himself. He looked down.

_Nowhere to hide down there. One area of the desert free of rubble and it just has to be here! I can't go through the clouds, can't see a thing. _

_Guess I'll have to risk a fly-over and hope I get away before they see me._

He soared higher, gaining altitude, feeling his repli-blood start to bubble with excitement. Little as though he liked to think it, the danger of this reconnaissance thrilled him. It had been too long since he had been facing a real assignment, rather being cooped up in a stuffy office or the city streets. The cold, crisp air of the desert night tasted sweet and pure, and for a moment, Sage wanted nothing more than to just fly high and free.

But duty called. He reluctantly lowered again as he saw the clouds part and beheld the lights below. He took out the optics and held them to his eyes.

He let out a gasp of surprise.

Again, animal design. Though most of them looked humanoid, there was a significant number of animaloid reploids among them also.

_Two unknown armies, obsolete designs, and siege intent. How is it all possible?_

"Enjoying the view?" A high, whining voice sounded in mid-air behind him.

Startled, Harpuia dropped the optics and flew forward, twisting around to see the speaker.

What he saw shocked him to the core.

Before him was a pearly-white winged reploid, at least twice as large as himself, with a long, cruel black beak and enormous, flapping, black-edged wings that looked razor-sharp. It had cruel, pointed talons attached to its long, thin black legs and, surprisingly, long white arms with pointed claws that seemed to crackle with energy, along with the white gem on its forehead.

Sage immediately switched his vision to scanning mode, trying to determine the power levels and affiliation of the winged reploid.

He came up with nothing. Something on the reploid's armor was jamming the transmission.

The monstrosity let out a cruel, high-pitched laugh. "Stop! That tickles! You can't throw those signals at me!"

"Who...or what are you?" Harpuia grated as he hovered before the great avian.

The reploid grinned and, perhaps with a flair for the dramatic, bent over in a bow, tucking an arm and wing below him. The thunder rumbled as the black clouds drew close.

"I am Starburst Stymphian, honorable leader of the Air Raiders squadron..."

Both the name and the title meant nothing to Sage, who just glared.

"...and you, if I am not mistaken, are the one I was warned about...Sage Harpuia, First Guardian of the so-called 'Master X'."

Harpuia's repli-blood boiled at the insolence in the avian's voice when he spoke of his master.

"You shall speak of him with respect, monster! I know not who you are or what your purpose is here, but it is in your best interest to pack up your bags of tricks down there and be gone!"

Stymphian snorted with laughter. "And who are you to tell me what I should do? Oh, if you're worried about them, I suggest you go speak to the boss. I can't very well tell them all to leave, now can I? Even if I did want to..."

Harpuia growled. He was in no mood for games.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again: _Who are you!?_"

The reploid sneered and mockingly tapped his temple in thought as the lightning flashed.

"Let's see...I was once what the world might have thought of as the savior of the skies. The protector of the heavens. But then I was enlightened by a great reploid and figured out it was all a lie and I was a slave..."

_What in the name of..._

"...and I took the law into my own hands, fighting for the freedom of my whole race from those who enslaved us, and for that I was destroyed by those whom I was trying to protect, specifically the one who was the father of us all..."

_Could he mean...Master X?_

"...but now, thanks to a particularly insightful master, I have returned, and once again, I will free the reploid race from their enslavement."

Stymphian paused and pointed a crooked gold claw at Harpuia.

"But unfortunately, you, my friend, simply reek of the human poison, and it seems you are beyond redemption!"

He suddenly shot backwards and unfolded the full span of his wings, which hummed and pulsed with energy.

Rain started to fall. Harpuia could feel the cold drops on his synthoflesh.

"So I'll make you an offer..." His voice rose slightly. "You can accept a nice little cocktail as emergency treatment to snap you out of it and awaken you to our true destiny...or..."

His wings started to thrum louder and vibrated heavily, steaming as raindrops fell on them.

His voice sank to almost a whisper. "...I put you out of your misery."

Sage didn't need to hear any more. He immediately snatched one of his beam sabers from his belt and activated it half a second before he swung his arm upwards, sending a crescent beam of glowing energy at the winged horror.

Stymphian laughed and immediately flared a ghostly white aura. He easily dodged the beam, thrusting to one side.

"Good. I hate it when they cooperate!" His high, crackling laughter mixed with the sound of thunder and the mirroring crackle of his wings to beat a symphony of evil upon the green Guardian's tympanic sensors.

But Sage refused to be daunted. He swung his sabers again, horizontally and vertically, throwing energy at him again. Stymphian, still laughing, flew up high, avoiding the beams, and drew in his wings close around him.

He unfolded them and Harpuia's eyes widened as crackling white missiles whipped out of the wings, guided towards a single target: him.

Cranking his boosters to their full velocity, Sage veered off to one side, but the pointed missiles followed.

Seizing the first idea in his head, knowing he had no time to think of anything better, Harpuia ascended and twisted. The missiles homed in on him, and he suddenly dived again, speeding towards Stymphian, who watched with an amused look on his face.

Harpuia veered away barely two meters before Stymphian and did a half-circle around him. Stymphian was in their path.

The high, cruel laugh sounded again over the thunder as Sage turned to see the impact.

The missiles scattered like a flock and re-converged behind Stymphian, heading straight at Sage.

"Ha ha ha! Dream on, Harpuia! Don't you think someone's tried that before?" the mad bird reploid laughed, turning to face him.

Harpuia hovered in shock for a moment before he collected his wits. The missiles were heading straight for him.

He deactivated his boosters, free-falling to avoid the missiles. They still followed him. As he fell, Harpuia lifted his sabers and flung energy crescents at them. He hit several and they exploded, but there must have been about three dozen of them...

_This is not good._

He chanced a glimpse down and saw to his dismay that he was actually much lower in altitude than he had hoped. The ground was only several hundred feet below.

_Wait,_ he grinned.

Sage waited until Stymphian was out of sight in the dark clouds, and then he kicked in his boosters and dived, hurtling towards the ground, the missiles close behind.

It came so quickly below that none of the reploids below even saw it.

Harpuia veered up from his dive about forty feet from the ground in a perfect arc, and the missiles, not reacting as quickly as he, did not pull up in time.

The resulting explosions and screams from below confirmed the success of Harpuia's tactic to his ears, and the green Guardian grinned again and climbed.

He popped back through the cloud canopy to see Stymphian, who had heard the explosions and was laughing again. However, the exultant expression on his face died when he saw Harpuia, whole and smiling, before him.

"Too bad they didn't react to the ground..." Harpuia smirked at the smacked expression on the avian maverick's face.

Harpuia could see, to his relief, that his laughter had died. Now he looked angry.

"_Craawwwww!_"

With an enraged shriek, Stymphian flew at Harpuia, swiping with his claws. Harpuia veered off to one side and slashed at his flank with his saber. The blade scraped against thick armor, but did not penetrate. The two combatants flew apart again and prepared for another charge.

_This calls for something a little more heavy duty._

His new weapon...he had never used it before, but if there was one time he would ever need it, it was now.

A flash of lightning fell, and Sage saw his chance.

Harpuia summoned all of his power and crowed an ear-shattering hawk-cry, releasing all the energy out his gullet and into the wind.

It swirled and glowed, and finally broke apart, spraying three red lightning streaks at Stymphian, who looked, for a moment, extremely astonished.

Harpuia raised his sabers and guided the energy, sweating and gritting his teeth from the effort.

Stymphian panicked and flapped his wings wildly, useless as it was, to get away from the bolts.

They were quicker. One struck him through the belly and he gave a high shriek of agony as it burned a sizzling chunk out of his stomach. Another struck him on the left wing and he wavered and fell dangerously for a few feet until he corrected his flight. The other one then struck him on the right ankle joint, almost burning his foot clean off.

Harpuia groaned. His new weapon was truly amazing, but still, it was not quite enough to take down a powerful maverick on its own. His energy cells had been drained to a sub-optimal performace level from the effort, and the fight was not over.

Shrieking with rage and pain, Stymphian ascended wildly and flew straight at Harpuia, who dived and met him blade for claw.

The green Guardian threw long, quick strokes at the avian's torso, while Stymphian swiped at him with his long claws...with both his arms and his thin legs.

Harpuia winced repeatedly at the feel of sharp claws penetrating his armor and scraping his synthoflesh, but luckily enough the claws were not so long as to be able to scratch deeply.

Giant, smoking scars were appearing in Stymphian's torso from Harpuia's whip-like strokes also, and in his case, it seemed to cause him much more pain, not to mention anger.

Harpuia ducked under a horizontal swipe, and seeing his chance, swept up his saber vertically and caught the recoiling arm on the elbow, shearing it off.

Stymphian screamed in agony and kicked out wildly with one taloned foot, shoving Harpuia away from him.

They separated again and the avian maverick clutched at his smoking elbow as the arm fell, uselessly, though the clouds, trailing sparks and repli-blood.

He then looked up at the Guardian hovering before him, his eyes seeming to glow with fury.

Then Harpuia realized it wasn't just fury.

His eyes glowed a brilliant gold and began to draw energy. Harpuia knew immediately what was coming and tried to veer away, but...

There was a cough from his back and one of his boosters rattled into silence.

Harpuia looked down at his right booster in horror. He hadn't noticed that it was gouged by Stymphian's flailing legs in the struggle.

He couldn't move fast enough when it came.

The twin piercing plasma rays blew large rents in his helmet and chestplate. Harpuia flew backwards through the air into a cloud, barely able to maintain his altitude.

His world spun from the dent to his helmet and he could feel himself starting to pass out.

"No..."

He then felt himself being roughly seized by Stymphian's remaining claws.

"Yes!"

From what little Sage could see, the maverick's face was inches from his, twisted into a triumphant expression.

"So ends the great Guardian...as will end all those reploids foolish enough to follow the humans..." Stymphian's eyes began to glow again. "Such a pity you could not see the light, but then again I doubt you would have been much use anyway..."

_So this is it?_ Harpuia thought. _At least I'll have gone down in battle._

Suddenly there was a great crack of thunder, and Stymphian screamed as he beheld an energy blade sticking out of the front of his chest. Harpuia also stared at it in his half-conscious amazement.

The blade shared upward, splitting Stymphian's head and upper torso as he gave a final great cry.

Harpuia then felt himself falling, falling, as the world sank into darkness around him.

* * *

He awoke briefly, seeing a familiar face before him, cloud vapor running all around. 

He smiled.

"Still saving me, I see."

"Hush. You should not talk now. Save your strength. You'll need it for the siege."

"..." He fell silent again as he felt the flying sensation.

* * *

He awoke again. 

"_Where am I?!_"

He snapped his eyes open, and immediately shut them again as he felt little knives stabbing into them and saw flashes of white.

"He's awake! Thank goodness!"

Sage recognized the voice, and, groaning, he sat up painfully and opened his eyes again slowly to see the bright lights of the command center infirmary. He was in a bed, propped up against some cushions. His ruined armor and body suit and his weapons lay next to him on a chair.

"Sage!"

Leviathan ran to him and hugged him around the side.

"F-Fairy, I don't...please...get a grip." Harpuia weakly tried to swat her away.

The blue Guardian chuckled as she let go. "I thought I just did."

Then her expression changed. She snarled and drew back.

Harpuia closed his eyes, wincing.

_CRACK!_ Leviathan's open palm left a bright red mark on his already-tattooed cheek.

"And that's for going off like that and nearly getting yourself killed, Sage!"

Harpuia groaned again, and then felt a clumsy hand patting him on the other shoulder.

"I've felt that enough times to know it really adds insult to injury. So how are you feeling, mate?" Fefnir was grinning at his awakening. Fefnir only ever called Sage 'mate', when he knew he couldn't do anything about it.

"I feel awful!"

"So you should." Fefnir picked up the list the medics left on the writing board beside the bed and read through the list. "Heavy bruising and scratching to the synthoflesh on the head and chest, cracked metalloribs, synthofilament lesions, damage to the sensory cortex, critical energy depletion, and..."

"Fefnir, cut it out! I'm not in the mood for any kidding around."

"Me neither..." Fefnir looked gravely at him over the clipboard. "What I mean is..._what the heck happened?_"

"Got into a fight with some flying maverick." Harpuia rubbed his smarting eyes.

"So...they are mavericks then."

"Yes, but...not the same ones we were fighting."

"What?"

"They're ancient mavericks, reploids of a much more powerful animaloid design."

"But they were all scrapped years ago!"

"Apparently, some weren't."

Fefnir shook his head. "Well, in any case, whatever happened out there, you sure are lucky you activated those summoning beacons, Harpuia. Otherwise I doubt you'd be here now."

"Yeah." Something suddenly clicked in Harpuia's memory, as he had temporarily forgotten it in his relief.

"The army!" He yelled, leaping painfully from his bed and surprising his fellow Guardians.

"What about them? They stopped moving while you were away." Leviathan looked shocked.

"They'll move again! Quickly!" He scrambled to his gauntlet lying on the chair and picked it up. He flicked on the wrist-com.

"Captain!" He bellowed into the com, using the channel frequency of the squad he had used earlier. "Are the mavericks moving?"

After a moment he banged the com closed and turned to his fellow Guardians.

"They're coming again! We're going to have trouble."

"Ummm...Sage?" Leviathan asked hesitantly, blushing and looking to one side.

"_What?!_"

"Look down, mate." Fefnir looked like he was tearing up in hysterics.

Sage looked down, and then to his armor on the chair, and his face turned bright red.

"Exclamation point on his boxers! HAHAHA!" Fefnir's laughter must have reached the human city.

* * *

The three of them stood on the eastern battlement, watching as the maverick army drew closer. 

"Pardon me sir, but wouldn't it be advisable to attack them first? With bombers perhaps?" The captain asked from nearby.

Harpuia, now dressed in his partially ruined armor, turned and looked at him.

"No, Captain. The bombs would do less damage on that landscape. We wait until they draw closer. We can bury the bombs underneath them instead."

The captain nodded and turned away.

Harpuia sighed and turned to face his fellow Guardians.

"You know what we neeed?"

Leviathan nodded. "As soon as they attack here, the southern ones will attack also. We need more men."

Harpuia nodded. "We need more than that, Leviathan. These are powerful mavericks."

He paused, and then continued after a moment.

"I think I know how we can win. But it'll mean doing something that could be our downfall in the government..."

"What?" They both looked puzzled

Harpuia lowered his voice.

"Summon Zero."

* * *

And there you have it! I hope you're all satisfied. Sorry it took so long. I had exams and research to finish (I still do actually). 

A question to the readers: I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead with this storyline or adjust it and/or rewrite it in future to concur with MMZ3. Which would you guys and gals like?

Next chapter: two battlefronts, and a promise of survival. More Mavericks, More Guardians, and most importantly, More Zero. Until then, please R&R.

Jim'Van


	4. Amber Skies

Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man Zero, or any of its characters. They are the legal property of Capcom. I do, however, own any other characters in this story unless specified otherwise. None of the characters own any part of me either, though I'm pretty sure Harpuia wants my head for showing him in his boxers in the last chapter.

Author: Hey again. Sorry it's been so long. Been up to my ears in graduation, plus job-hunting, plus teaching courses, plus training, yada-yada. You know, all the usual excuses. I just hope the extra one-shot I posted will stop the readers from tearing my head off. In this action-packed chapter, it's time to clean up Neo Arcadia. It seems that the attacking mavericks are much more than what they seem. The plot thickens. As usual, it takes the incredible strength that falls on a hero with a purpose on this day…

* * *

Zero: Heart of a Hunter

Chapter 3: Amber Skies

Everyone in the command center stood in shock as Harpuia finished his transmission.

"…and we need the Resistance forces to face the southern army when it marches!" His voice sounded harried and anxious. Harpuia's visage paused, and then…

"I promise the immediate cessation of all hostilities against the Resistance if you comply."

"I cannot promise your pardon if you help us…that is not my choice alone to make…but I promise a peaceful meeting between our leaders to try and negotiate the Resistance's pardon and return to Neo Arcadia. That much, I can do."

Then the image fizzled out of focus and the view screen was empty once more.

No one moved for a moment. Zero sat still, his cobalt eyes dilated in thought.

_They need us. If we don't go, likely they'll be crushed. If we do go, then we lose a good number of our own as well if we push them back. But if those unknown mavericks take the Neo Arcadian capital, the human – and reploid – civilians living there will be defenseless against them, and if they're anything like what Harpuia said, we can't allow that. I can't allow that. These mavericks must be stopped._

He opened his mouth to order the shuttles to get ready for lift-off, but then a thought struck him and he stopped.

_Of course, there is a chance it could all be a trick to lure us out. They could have just faked that video of the maverick army. We haven't heard of any mavericks here in the Outlands for ages and it wouldn't be the first time the Neo Arcadians tried trickery._

Zero took a deep breath and stood up. _Only one way to find out._

"Zer- Commander, we should go help them. If we win, this could mean peace." Ciel looked anxious to get started.

"Ciel, we need to be sure they're telling the truth first." Zero walked over to the trans station.

Sheela, surprisingly, nodded at Zero and turned to Ciel. "He's right. I was thinking the same thing. This might be a trick."

Ciel stiffened slightly at the voice. She turned and glared at Sheela, who glared right back. The air between them was practically crackling with mutual dislike.

Zero was inwardly startled. He'd never seen Ciel look at anyone that way before. _What the?_

Ciel opened her mouth, looking for a second like she was going to argue…but then she stopped, realizing Zero's suspicions were justified.

He put the thought aside for later. "Don't worry, Ciel. We _are _going to help them. I'll just go and see if they're not playing around, and then we might get our chance at peace sooner than we thought." Zero said as he stepped onto the pad. "I'll be back soon. Until then…officers, Ciel, send our forces in the shuttles and keep them circling high and out of sight in the clouds near the capital until I call you."

"Wait a second, Zero!" Cerveau suddenly shouted. Then he stopped, looking slightly embarrassed as he noticed everyone in the room had turned to look at him. He walked over to Zero, saluted (Zero winced), and held out a pair of metal rods.

"Th-this is the new weapon I built for you, commander." he said lamely.

Zero raised one eyebrow and took the new weapon. "What is it?"

"I call it the Recoil Rod. I built it with the combined designs of the triple and chain rods in mind." Cerveau explained. "Good weapon for long range and thrust attacks, but it might take a while to learn to use it properly. I'll go over all the fine print with you later, commander." Cerveau, still looking sheepish about his over-enthusiastic outburst, saluted again clumsily and stepped back.

Zero nodded. "Very well. Merem! Trans me now to the landing zone coordinates they sent!"

"Yes, Commander Zero!" Merem saluted smartly and activated the trans unit. "Transfer…start!"

"Transfer!" Sheela echoed.

And Zero disappeared in a ray of light.

* * *

_BRRUUUMMM!_

Zero materialized out of thin air on a large circular concrete landing pad.

He blinked, his mind shrugging off the sudden change in light, and gazed at his surroundings.

He was standing on a landing pad built for shuttles inside a military air base located, he guessed from his sniff of the air, on a high building. There were guarded metal gates on all sides, twenty meters high, with sentries manning the battlements. Not mindless Pantheons, thankfully, but reploid soldiers, dressed in uniforms bearing the jade hawk crest that Zero recognized only too well as that of the Neo Arcadian Rekku army. Over the walls of this high security landing pad, he could see only what looked like the top of an observation tower.

"You there! Halt!" One of the reploids on the walls bellowed.

"It's Zero!" squawked the one next to him in surprise, seeing the crimson hunter below.

The first reploid stared at the second one incredulously for a moment before bellowing "Take him down!"

The Neo Arcadians opened fire, and Zero, cursing, pulled out his shield boomerang and activated it. He crouched under the long plasma plate as the shots struck it. The shield boomerang had been upgraded by Cerveau to be able to create a shield dome around him if he ever crouched under it and held it horizontally over him. He sat under the glowing plasma dome and contemplated his next move.

_So…either these idiot soldiers didn't do their homework or this is a trap after all._

Either way, he had to get out before they started bringing in the big guns. Shield boomerang or not, he'd be a sitting duck then.

_In any case, I've gotta move._ Zero stared through the dome at the reploids manning the walls. There were about ten of them. This would be the longest throw he ever attempted. Flicking his optic sensors and his fingers at the same time, Zero inputted coordinates into the back of the shield and set it to charge.

The shield began to thrum with energy and vibrate in Zero's hand. Zero jumped to his feet and threw the shield upwards with all his might as the plasma dome broke. Most of the soldiers had used all of their ammunition on his dome already and were inserting full clips as he threw, but some still shot down at Zero, who dashed quickly around the inner perimeter to avoid the bullets.

The shield boomerang spun lazily in its flight, and then suddenly, the coordinates Zero had inputted kicked in and it twisted and shot around the wall perimeter in a perfect arc, flawlessly slicing through the nozzles of the soldiers' guns. There were shouts of surprise as soldiers witnessed the green blur literally passing centimeters before their faces, but not hitting a single one of _them_.

_Can't have any misunderstandings anymore, can we?_ Zero thought, as the shield boomerang arced back into his outstretched hand.

"Hey guys!" he bellowed up to the dumbstruck soldiers before they could collect themselves. "You know and I know that I could scrap any or all of you without getting so much as a scratch, so why don't you just lay off the hardware and listen up…I was called here!"

"Draw side arms! Open fire!" the reploid officer bellowed, apparently ignoring Zero. The crimson hunter groaned as he saw they weren't going to be put off. He pulled out his Z-saber and prepared for a leap onto the walls.

_This can't be a trap. They'd send more than a bunch of trigger-happy grunts here if it was. But if I have to defend myself…at least I tried to warn them._

"HOLD!" The voice thundered across the whole airfield, the voice Zero recognized and he knew could very well mean the difference between big trouble and little trouble in this situation.

Sage Harpuia soared overhead and descended down into the landing pad. Fixing Zero with a cold stare through half-open eyes, the First Guardian landed beside him and called up to the Rekku soldiers.

"Hold your fire! Zero is here under the terms of a truce!"

The soldiers stopped for a moment and gazed at each other unsurely, and then back down at the two reploids.

"Any soldier who draws will do a month's garbage collection!" Harpuia bellowed, a look of outrage on his face at their insubordination.

His threat made the reploids' battle-hungry expressions melt off their faces and their hands twitch away from their holsters. Zero chuckled quietly. _It never fails._

"Don't think I would ever do you a favor like that again, Zero. _Where in the heck are the Resistance!_" Harpuia muttered sideways at him, glaring.

Zero frowned and turned to him, not bothering to deactivate his Z-saber. "First and foremost, _Harpuia_, it's your men you did a favor…not me. Secondly, the Resistance won't come until you show me exactly what we're dealing with."

Several of the Rekku soldiers involuntarily tensed up at the sight of Zero facing their master with a weapon drawn, and a few of the bolder ones went for their pistols, but Harpuia stopped them with another stony glare. He faced Zero again.

"I have no time for any foolishness. You must signal them at once and come with me." Sage said stiffly, standing straight with his arms folded.

Zero looked closely at the green-armored reploid. Harpuia's armor looked dented and scratched as though he had recently been in combat, and his face was pinched and pale-looking, with a long, red scar down one side. His eyes, however, were the worst of all. He was a reploid in the midst of true turmoil.

Zero smirked slightly. "Bit touchy, aren't we? You'd think a guy who called for help would be a bit more polite." Then he straightened. "Show me your mavericks, Harpuia...then I'll think about signaling the Resistance."

Harpuia stared hard at him for the next few moments and Zero held his gaze, emerald on sapphire, until the Guardian finally looked away. "Well…I suppose I can't pretend your suspicions aren't reasonable, Zero. Come with me."

Still holding the thrumming Z-saber at his side, Zero followed Harpuia as he marched up to the eastern wall and called for the door to be opened. The wall parted some three meters below the top and two long doors, designed for unloading from landing weapons transports and dropships, slid open to reveal the rest of the airfield.

They were standing on a large raised roof high above the ground, the whole roof large enough to fit dozens of aircraft. The building it stood upon reached so far off the ground it would be impossible to see it when one peeked over the airfield's perimeter. They would simply see the zig-zagging network of bridge roads and monorail leading from building to building.

"In the middle of the metropolis, I suppose?" Zero said, raising one eyebrow and staring around at the mega-skyscrapers all around the 'field'. In the distance and between the taller buildings, he could just make out the tallest building of all, the High Temple, glowering over all of Neo Arcadia.

Harpuia nodded grimly as he walked towards the air control tower, Zero following. "Yes. Not ideal, I know. This potential target makes it dangerous for the civilians below, Zero, but I had no choice. After the first few battles of the war, I needed more air bases…so the government gave me this civilian airfield for use…"

He snorted loudly. "I usually just assign my army's troublemakers here to get them out of my way, hence your welcome. I haven't had any use for this airfield until today, Zero."

"Perhaps it'll be useful now…" Zero muttered.

All around them were long runways for aircraft, along with refueling depots and storage hangars. A few of the fighter jets and shuttles the Rekku army used were out on the runways being tended to by hurried mechanics. Zero supposed Harpuia was having every last one of them tuned up and prepared for battle.

The Guardian turned and saw Zero looking at the aircraft. "Yes…I ordered every last aircraft armed and checked. We'll need all the help we can get for what's coming."

Zero's eyes flicked back to Harpuia again. The Guardian walked up to the entrance to the observation tower and hit the touch pad. The doors slid open and he walked in, Zero following. When they were both inside, the floor jolted and began to move, lifting them both in an elevator. Harpuia was silent as he stood with his arms folded and stared sideways at Zero's thrumming Z-saber.

"You can put that away, Zero. You know I wouldn't try to trick you…"

Zero raised one eyebrow before slowly deactivating his Z-saber and holstering it. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Even if you do try to jump me I could beat you off without it."

Harpuia glared for a moment before the lift hummed to a stop, fitting seamlessly to the large, circular floor of the observation level.

Without a word, the green reploid walked towards a large landscope. It was a long, silvery steel tube set on a raised, mobile platform before a chair. Harpuia jumped up onto it and commandeered the platform, moving it on its supports to face eastward. Harpuia frowned as he put his eyes to the magnifiers on the scope and swiveled it on its support until he finally nodded grimly.

He leaned back into the chair behind the scope and turned his head to look down at Zero, who watched silently.

"Well, here's your proof, Zero…" Harpuia flipped the small lever on the landscope's control panel and there was a deep humming noise.

Slowly, a lens on the side of the scope clicked open and a projector screen slid out of the ceiling. Zero watched as the lens began to glow and filter the image of the scope out onto the screen.

Zero frowned as he saw it. _So it's true, then._

Before him was a large picture of an enormous group of reploids, marching in rank and file. They were all armed and armored, and even interspersed with what looked like tanks and mobile missile launchers., along with enormous mechaniloid weapons.

Zero squinted to look at the two-inch tall soldiers on the picture and frowned even more deeply. _Animaloid reploids…and definitely mavericks. It's all true._

Zero glanced up at Harpuia, who nodded and deactivated the projection with another flick of the lever. The Guardian, now looking a little more satisfied, jumped off the platform and landed beside Zero. "So we're agreed, Zero?"

Zero nodded slowly, his face losing its suspicion and becoming grim. "Agreed. Where's your command center? We'll take this from there, right?"

Harpuia nodded before stepping back to the elevator. "What about those Resistance transports?" he asked as Zero joined him. Zero nodded once and activated the com in his helmet wing.

"Sheela! Merem! Do you copy? This is Zero. Maverick attack on Neo Arcadia confirmed. Commence shuttle descent!"

"_Yes, Commander Zero…"_

Harpuia suddenly made a funny noise and glanced sideways at Zero, the hint of a smirk playing upon his face.

Zero glared at him. 'It wasn't my idea' he mouthed before Merem spoke again.

"…_Commander, do you wish descent upon the previously acquired coordinates?"_

Zero frowned. "Standby, Merem." He clicked off his com and turned back to the green reploid. "I don't think they should land and deploy here, Harpuia. It may take hours to get them from here to anywhere the fightings going to be…"

Harpuia nodded grimly. "I thought of that, Zero. But like I said, most of my other fields are simply too full of the Rekku army. I made arrangements to have your forces picked up and taken to the battlefront by transport…"

Zero shook his head before Harpuia could finish. "No…they're not going anywhere without my direction. Give me the coordinates of your defense line against the south and I'll get them to descend directly to the ground there."

Harpuia glared at him coldly. "We need the Resistance to reinforce our eastern garrison too, Zero. We may have less than three hours left until the fighting starts."

"Then get them transed. You can do that, can't you?"

Harpuia shook his head. "No…not enough energy…"

Zero shrugged. "Then I guess I'll reinforce the eastern side until you can cart the Resistance there around the city. How does that sound?"

Harpuia slowly nodded, knowing, no matter how much he may have disliked it, that Zero would be a greater advantage than any they could hope to have on the eastern front. "That's fine, but you'll have to get Fefnir to do that, Zero. All the large land transports belong to the Jin'en army…"

The elevator whirred to a stop again at the base of the tower.

"Where is my welcoming committee anyway?" Zero asked dryly. He knew that if they had been given the chance, Fefnir and Leviathan would have been there waiting for the Resistance. To greet him, threaten him, and provoke him.

Harpuia smirked slightly as he realized what Zero was asking. "I ordered them to stay put at the command center and prepare our defenses under the threat of suspension after the battle if they didn't."

Zero chuckled quietly before flicking his com back on. "Operator? This is Zero. Cancel the previous coordinates and have the Resistance descend to deploy at…" He glanced questioningly at Harpuia. The Green Guardian frowned and tried to recall it from his memory.

"…Z4-45 V7-31, Zero." He said after a moment, his brow furrowed.

"Z4-45 V7-31." Zero echoed into his com. "Prepare defensive perimeter with Neo Arcadian direction and expect Neo Arcadian Jin'en forces to arrive to redeploy some of our forces afterwards."

Her voice sounded anxious. _"Understood, commander…relaying orders to Resistance transports. Be careful, Zero."_

Zero nodded. "Keep my channel on standby for more information, Merem."

"_Yes, sir! Merem out!"_

Zero looked up. Harpuia was staring at him, smirking slightly.

"What?"

"Do you know how stupid that looks? Nodding into your com?"

Zero gazed at him levelly. _Smug, aren't you. _"Don't tell me you don't ever do it."

Harpuia shook his head, his face grim again, before exiting the tower. "Come with me, 'Commander' Zero. We don't have much time. I'll get a transport to take us to the command center. We've got briefings to give and old grudges to throw out if we want this to work."

* * *

Fairy Leviathan paced up and down before the briefing room, waiting for news over the com. 

She hated this. Harpuia was away preparing his Rekku army for the battle and preparing for the arrival of the Resistance. Fefnir, meanwhile, was recalling his Jin'en army from their guard positions in the city and getting them ready for skirmish and defense on the city walls. Her own forces, the Meikai army, were of no use in this upcoming battle. There was no water anywhere nearby for her forces to attack from, and she had little preparation of any kind to make, so she merely paced the briefing room. She knew she would eventually be called upon for some reason, but she was certain she wouldn't like it when she was.

The worst part about being in such a predicament was the sense of danger ever-rising, and then the feeling of gut-wrenching helplessness kicking in as the enemy drew closer. Nervousness did not sit with Leviathan very well.

_I hate this…_It was her very thought.

_We lose the Dark Elf and Master X to that overdressed, curly-blond peacock of a maverick, Elpizo! Then we get the city streets swamped with upstarts and have to clean up their mess! Then we see some mavericks that shouldn't even exist anymore coming onto us in overwhelming strength with no forewarning whatsoever, and now we have to strike a deal with the Resistance and Zero, of all people, to try and hold out! Making matters even worse, there's no water involved and unless I harass Harpuia or Fefnir I have to sit here and cheer from the sidelines again! Haven't I proven myself useful enough in their battles before! Something's gotta give…and double quick!_

Suddenly, the doors slid open and Fairy stopped pacing and glared at the doorway. Fefnir stood there, dark circles under his eyes and his limbs looking stiff and tired.

"Hey Fairy…" he muttered dejectedly as he walked in. "I just got an interestin' message from our little green buddy…"

At that point though, there was a shout of surprise somewhere out in the corridor and Fefnir spun around while Leviathan looked at the doorway again. The shout was followed by what sounded like a hard crack and a familiar voice bellowing at some poor soldier to stand down. Leviathan and Fefnir looked at each other. Leviathan shrugged, but Fefnir grinned and glanced back at the corridor.

_What on earth is with Sage this time?_ she thought.

Her question was answered a few moments later when a scowling Harpuia strode into the room followed by the one reploid Leviathan had never thought she'd see in their base unless he broke a hole in the wall and charged in, saber in hand.

_Zero?_

It was indeed him. Zero…still cold, still intimidating, and still as dangerous as ever.

Leviathan felt a wrench inside her as she looked at his face. She never knew why, but even though she cried out at night for the legendary hero's blood, looking at his eyes made her digestive unit turn to jelly. The strength and coldness the orbs radiated made Leviathan feel challenged, and she longed to meet that challenge head on in the reploid before her now.

Zero's gaze seemed to flicker to her for a moment. "Leviathan. Fefnir. It's been a while."

Fefnir growled, his red eyes glowing with barely-contained violence as he gazed at the only warrior who had ever bested him in battle. "Well…well…Zero…I guess I'm glad yer here. You came without the Resistance. Heh heh, how considerate of you. Guess this means I get to scrap you and make it look like an accident…care to step outside?"

He took a menacing step forward, but in a flash, Sage was in front of him, a palm outstretched. "Not here and not now, Fefnir."

Fefnir growled again, his eyes still fixed on Zero. "Look, Sage! Look! He's right here, in front of all three of us right now! He's been our biggest problem for the last year! Imagine what we…"

"Not now, Fefnir." The Green Guardian repeated sternly in the tone which he saved exclusively for a temperamental Fefnir that always made him halt in his tracks.

Leviathan smirked as Fefnir snarled and pouted childishly before glaring down at the floor.

Harpuia glared warningly at him for a moment before turning back to glance at Zero. "I…apologize, Zero. You're here under a truce and none of us will break that…" he then turned and looked at Leviathan with one eyebrow raised. "Right, Fairy?"

Leviathan smiled coldly, fixing her wide open gaze on Zero. "Rii-ight…"

Zero did not even blink during the whole exchange, his face remaining cool and impassive to the Guardian's antics. Leviathan felt vaguely offended that not even she had managed to catch his interest in any way. She felt he wasn't taking them very seriously.

_Well, maybe I should remind him just how much he's dealing with…_

"Zero…" she said sweetly, smirking at him slightly. He looked at her.

Leviathan smiled shyly and twirled a strand of her blue hair between two fingers. "If we're on the same side now, I guess this means I have to hold back on you now…hmmm, but in other things I don't have to hold back at all." She winked at him.

Zero, to Leviathan's silent delight, did manage to look faintly uncomfortable for a moment, but he quickly dropped it and looked away. Leviathan heard a deep breath beside her and she was sure Fefnir was trying not to grin.

Sage glared at her. "What did I just say to Fefnir, Fairy? This isn't the time to play around! Are the officers assembled?"

Leviathan nodded. "All of your men are in the next room for the briefing. I had a hard time convincing them to stay there and wait for you, Sage."

Harpuia turned and glared at Zero. "I wouldn't have been late if someone hadn't insisted…" he muttered.

The red reploid shrugged as if he couldn't care less. "So are you gonna brief them or what, Harpuia?"

He shook his head. "No…_we_ are going to brief them.

Zero raised one eyebrow.

"They need to know, Zero, completely, and with no doubt whatsoever, that they must lay off you and the Resistance soldiers during this battle…" Harpuia said. "…and what better way to do that than have Resistance Commander Zero at their briefing?"

Fefnir suddenly snorted and burst out laughing. Leviathan grinned to herself, but didn't make a sound.

_Zero! The commander of the Resistance! I just might need a drink…_

"Commander…Zero…eh?" Fefnir managed to gasp out through his chuckles.

Zero folded his arms, his eyebrow twitching slightly. "I'm getting just a little bit tired of hearing that today."

Fefnir looked up, and his hostility seemed to vanish as quickly as it came. "Can't say I blame you, Zero. Titles and ranks can be a real pain in the neck from my experience."

Zero nodded, but Harpuia cleared his throat impatiently. "If you're finished, Fefnir, we'll discuss Zero's rank another time. Let's get these briefings underway. Pay close attention, Zero, these are for your benefit too…"

Zero merely shrugged again as Harpuia turned, gesturing for him and his two fellow Guardians to follow him. Leviathan fell into step behind Harpuia and Zero and was aware of Fefnir following behind.

_Zero…_she thought as she gazed at his back. _Well, I can say I thought I'd never see the day…

* * *

_

Harpuia tapped the entrance pad beside the door to the main briefing room, and a voice emerged from the speaker above the pad.

"_State name and rank for voice confirmation._"

Zero watched as Harpuia bent down to the speaker.

"General Sage Harpuia, First Guardian of Neo Arcadia."

"_Identity confirmed. Access granted._"

There was a hiss and the door slid open. Harpuia beckoned with a jerk of his head for Zero and the Guardians to enter before him. Zero stood still and looked to Fefnir and Leviathan. After a moment's staring, Fefnir shook his head and walked through the doorway. Leviathan raised an eyebrow at Zero before walking past him and following Fefnir.

"Still don't trust us, Zero?" Leviathan muttered as she passed him.

_Maybe, _Zero thought.

As difficult as he knew he was being, caution was still engraved deeply into Zero's character, and as much as his heart might push him to do otherwise, his warrior instincts warned him against trusting the Guardians, who he knew were driven to fight him by warrior's rivalry right down to the deepest corners of their beings. But at the same time, he knew that the fact that the Guardians fought him for the sake of that rivalry alone made them honorable warriors, and for that reason he could probably trust them more than anyone else in a battle. Levi's question was indeed far more relevant than she imagined.

Zero shook those thoughts out his head as he followed the Guardians into the briefing room, emerging before a crowd of reploid officers who sat on raised rows of seats, or, in the case of the bulkier animaloid types, stood on raised platforms.

Zero's eyes roamed over the Neo Arcadians, who stopped talking and promptly fell silent, even more so than usual at the guest that their Master Harpuia had brought them.

Zero grinned inwardly as he gazed at each of their profiles. He read many different expressions on their faces: shock, outrage, anger, and things in between. Zero noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd and stifled the urge to chuckle at the daggers Aztec Falcon and Panter Flauclaws were glaring at him. The two of them looked ready to jump him right there and then.

Zero glanced over at Harpuia, who nodded and rapped his knuckles sharply on the closest desk to tear everyone's gaze away from the red reploid.

_Harpuia, you're going to have one heckuva time…_

"Gentlemen!" Harpuia began, frowning. "I expect you all to remain silent and accept whatever I say…and hold any questions for later. Officers will speak only when spoken to! We are pressed for time and there will be no disruption of this briefing!"

Their expressions changed. Mostly now looks of disgruntled and uneasy attention.

Harpuia walked over to the lectern beside at the front of the room and stood behind it. Fefnir and Leviathan walked over to the nearest seats and sat in them. Zero, smirking slightly to himself, took the seat next to them, earning many scowls from them and the surrounding reploids.

Harpuia cleared his throat and began to speak again. "Guardians Fefnir and Leviathan, Neo Arcadian defenders…we are about to be besieged by the one thing we never hoped to see again…organized maverick forces. As terrible as this is, we must make a stand and be prepared to face it!"

Harpuia clicked a button on the lectern, and the bright white walls of the briefing room disappeared.

Zero involuntarily jumped. The area had just changed. Now he was sitting in the middle of a miniature version of the desert surrounding the Neo Arcadian capital.

_This room has a hologram feature. Of course…what better way to give a briefing?_

Harpuia was now standing beside a mini-Neo Aracadian city. Zero saw, when he turned his head slightly, that the officers were now sitting on raised seats and platforms on top of tiny sand dunes.

Harpuia picked up a white pointer stick which, Zero could see when he squinted, had a small grey sensor set on its point.

"At present, we are expecting an attack at any moment from _this_ army of maverick reploids…" he said, making a semi-circular movement and a swish with the pointer, making the holographic environment revolve to face east and magnify to show a horizon full of a bustling grey 'army'.

"These attacking mavericks are greater in number than our own forces, that much is known for certain, but we will still have the advantage in defense because of our walls and fortifications. The real threat they pose however…"

He clicked a button on the lectern, and the maverick 'army' seemed to rush up to the magnified city walls. Harpuia swished the pointer again and the image flattened to ground view with the gray blob of mavericks standing just before the city.

"…lies in their bombardment weapons and air forces. For that reason, Aztec Falcon and I will be positioned atop these walls with several Rekku aircraft and Jethawk squads to counter any air force the mavericks may have. In case of failure, anti-aircraft weaponry have been placed immediately behind the walls to be elevated and used by Jin'en gunners, but they are _not_ to be fired until the Rekku units have been cleared…"

"Master Harpuia…" a reploid captain sitting across the room from Zero spoke up slowly.

Harpuia ignored him. "Bombs have been concealed beyond our defensive gridline to act as a large detonable minefield, hopefully to take out the larger siege weapons, but we must be wary…it's likely they saw us planting the…"

"Master Harpuia!" the cat-like reploid spoke again, his voice louder and more insistent.

Zero grinned as Harpuia turned his icy glare on the captain. "Did I not give out orders that my briefing was not to be disturbed, Fealikks?"

_Reminds me of someone I used to know_, Zero thought.

The feline reploid looked faintly uncomfortable for a minute before straightening on his platform, swishing his long, jagged tail and gazing through slitted eyes at the green Guardian. He was clad in a white breastplate with grayish streak marks along it, and dark plates along his long, black legs. His arms ended in short, grey claws and he wore a heavy cannon on his left arm. His eyes were narrowed to feline slits and set inside horizontal diamonds beneath a conical helmet with cat ears and over a protruding cat's mouth. After a moment, his gaze swiveled and settled on Zero.

"Master Harpuia…forgive me…but I only wished to ask what I believe is on the minds of every officer present in this room…"

Zero steeled himself for what he knew was coming, and was faintly aware of Leviathan tensing beside him as well. Harpuia glared at the reploid.

"That is, Master Harpuia…" Fealikks continued. "Why are we concerned about the mavericks outside the city when there is one inside this very room, and a particularly notorious one at that…"

There was a general growl of agreement from many of the reploids in the briefing room. Almost everyone was looking at Zero.

"…" Zero remained silent, though he wanted very much to tell the cat where to stick his tail. _Me, a maverick? As if he wouldn't already spit enough fur balls…_

"Fealikks…" Harpuia began coldly, obviously annoyed at the cat's persistence. "I believe I already informed every one of you that Zero and the Resistance would be joining forces with us. We have struck a truce against a common enemy…"

"What hope is there that mavericks will ever keep a truce?" Panter Flauclaws spoke up then, his low, crackling voice seeming contemptuous as he glared at the warrior who had defeated him in the past. "Especially against other mavericks."

Zero reflexively clenched his fist around the hilt of his Z-saber at his belt, ready in case Flauclaws made a move.

"Do not be too quick to throw that word around, Flauclaws." Harpuia suddenly said in a scathing tone. "Zero traveled here in person…alone…as a pledge of the Resistance's support…"

"Master Harpuia, I would not call it a pledge as much as I would call it the greatest danger we could possibly face at the moment." Fealikks interrupted again. Zero grinned inwardly. _Well…they know me. I just love my new fan club._

"Garbage collection, Fealikks!" Harpuia snapped. "One week for interrupting me and another for contradicting my order…starting immediately after this problem is resolved! You may be a reliable fighter, but I will not tolerate this insubordination! And Flauclaws…you better keep quiet for the remainder of this briefing or you will get the same! Now sit down!"

Both afore mentioned reploids were already seated, but they got their master's point. Flauclaws' pointed face looked sulky, but Fealikks merely swished his tail and said nothing, leaning back on his haunches and continuing to glare murderously at Zero.

_Well, that's just peachy. Not only am I going to be facing a maverick army, but I also have to deal with 'allies' who would try to kill me just as quickly as they would. Gotta keep my optics skinned for backstabbers._ Zero looked back to Harpuia, frowning and feeling a prickling on his temple. Leviathan and Fefnir, who had surprisingly remained silent during the whole exchange, were both looking sideways at him.

Harpuis cleared his throat again. "Now…as I was saying, the eastern mavericks will be faced by the bulk of the Jin'en legions with several battalions of Pantheons when they manage to breach the trenches and our bombs. More Pantheons will remain behind the walls operating turrets and standing by to reinforce them or face the mavericks in the event of a breach in the wall. Rekku Jethawks will supply support in both instances. I emphasize once more that the biggest threat is their assault weaponry, so that will be our primary target."

He paused and looked at Zero. "Resistance Commander Zero, please stand…"

Zero looked at him briefly, pulling an incredulous face. He stood finally, ignoring the burning glares he felt as Harpuia showed him off like a puppet.

Harpuia turned back to his men. "I will not lie to you, officers. Our current power will not be sufficient to hold off these mavericks without help, especially with the second maverick army to the south on the march and the now-critical energy shortage. For that reason, we are forced into an alliance with those whom we have called enemies…"

He swished his pointer again and the holo-room swiveled to face south. He tapped the 'capital's' southern wall with another blue 'army' drawing closer.

"The Resistance have agreed to support us in the upcoming battle by carrying out our defense of the south with our supervision until the eastern situation is resolved…or until they cannot do so any longer. Commander Zero, the current leader of the Resistance (Zero's eyebrow twitched again and he ground his teeth), will fight with us on the eastern front until Resistance reinforcements arrive to aid us by Jin'en transport…"

Fefnir quivered for a moment at that, but he said nothing.

"…and I want to make it clear that under no circumstances whatsoever…" Harpuia said, his voice louder and more commanding. "…is any one of you to harm the Resistance forces…or certain body parts important to you and not to me will be tokens of apology to them. Is that understood?"

Most of the reploids in the room remained silent, though some snorted lowly in displeasure, and others grunted grudging assent, particularly the 'male' reploids.

_Clear as crystal, Harpuia…but it won't stop them from trying. _Zero sighed inwardly and sat down. _Maybe I should just stay on the east and leave the Resistance where they can't touch them instead._ _Yeah, I'll do that…they'd be better off not fighting with the Neo Arcadians._

"Forget moving the Resistance, Fefnir…" Zero muttered lowly to his right, just loud enough for the Red Guardian to hear. "I'll stay with you on the east."

Fefnir snorted quietly and, without looking at Zero, he said "What makes you think I was gonna do it anyway?"

"Commander Zero…" Harpuia said slowly. "Do you have anything to say?"

Zero winced at the title, thought for a second and nodded. He stood and stomped up to the lectern over the tiny sand dunes, making no attempt at politeness or formality. He stood before the lectern as Harpuia stood aside. He saw many expressions, and felt others. He looked at the reploids before him, some he had faced, wounded, and been wounded by in battle, some he had never seen and instinctively disliked, and others he had never seen and knew would stay away.

Fefnir and Leviathan looked at him with something like grudging acceptance. Aztec Falcon was staring like he wanted nothing more than to blast Zero, and Panter Flauclaws looked like he was trying hard not to snarl. The cat reploid, Fealikks, was glaring at him through slitted eyes.

One face though, was quite devoid of emotion. A cloaked and hooded female reploid seated at the very back of the room remained still. Her face was hidden, but Zero could feel nothing in her gaze. Briefly, Zero wondered who she was.

He snapped his attention back to the seats before him.

"If you cover the Resistance's backs…" Zero said slowly. "…I'll cover yours. Fair enough?"

* * *

The hazy morning sun gleamed dully upon the grey steel walls of the Neo Arcadian capital. The outer battlements beyond the walls now rose above a network of hastily dug trenches and obstacles to give a more defensible position to the defenders, who stood and watched from the lower walls. The red tiger-crested Jin'en reploids looked on grimly, interspersed with the mindless pantheons, who stood on standby. Of all the Neo Arcadian forces, the Jin'en land forces represented the fiercest, most fearless and reckless. They plowed their way into any enemy with berserker ferocity and almost unstoppable power…each and every one of them an image of their general. But they were still few in number compared to the vastness of the airborne Rekku and aquatic Meikai, barely five hundred, and it was for that reason that their expressions were grimmer than usual. They were far outnumbered this time, and even worse, by a large army of ancient nightmares who had supposedly been much more powerful reploids than they. 

Who knew if the mighty Jin'en berserkers would even survive the coming conflict or if they would disappear forever in the mountain of scrap that was sure to follow this conflict?

That was the thought of Fighting Fefnir who stood at the forefront of his army facing the eastern horizon.

_So many of them, and so powerful. Could we possibly win?_

"Nervous, Fefnir?" Leviathan asked in falsely sweet voice from beside him.

Fefnir groaned inwardly. The last thing he wanted was to hear her voice anymore after all her pestering until he finally agreed to allow her to join his forces for the battle.

_If this girl wants to fight on land so bad instead of in the water, why doesn't she just take off that stupid helmet, put on some better armor and sign up like everyone else? Why me!_

"Hah!" He puffed himself up and grinned maliciously at the east to cover up his doubt. "As if! We'll recycle these mavericks and be back at the comman' center in time for lunch!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Fefnir…" his other companion spoke up quietly.

Fefnir turned to see their supposed 'secret weapon' standing beside him. Zero had remained silent for a good half-hour, staring stonily at the approaching black field and doing odd things like shifting his feet and rubbing the gem set into his helmet.

Fefnir frowned. _He doesn't seem so impressive now…just standing here without a weapon drawn and no fighting stance. In fact, I barely recognized him when he came down here. He seems just like a…well…just some quiet kid. How can it be? He's the legendary maverick hunter, the only reploid who's ever beaten me, and now that he's on my side he hardly looks up to much at all…I guess he really is a mystery…_

"What's your problem, Zero?" Fefnir growled, though he had to push to put all his heart into it. Fefnir cursed himself for the fact that he was inwardly too carefree to remain infinitely hostile to those who became his 'allies', even if it was someone like Zero…

_Argh! Get a grip on yourself, Fefnir man! This is ZERO! The reploid you've sworn to destroy with your own hands for crying out loud! Gah! Better to concentrate on hating his synthoguts right now so there won't be complications later._

Zero smirked slightly. "Aww, you're worried about me? How considerate of you…" He smirked more deeply as Fefnir scowled. Zero's expression went serious again as he rubbed the gem set into his helmet as if it was a habit. "Those mavericks make me uneasy. I've felt the signature they're giving off before somewhere."

"Where?" Leviathan asked, turning her head to look at him.

The red legend shrugged and turned his gaze back to the approaching army, now only several miles away.

"Much darned use you are then, Zero…" Fefnir muttered, though whether Zero had heard him or not he never knew.

Suddenly there was a high, screeching noise blasting though the tympanics of every reploid on the walls. Fefnir and Leviathan involuntarily covered their ears and snapped their eyes shut at the sound, but Zero did not move, and his expression did not change as the terrible, keening note continued.

Fefnir growled and flipped open his wrist-com. "HARPUIA! Can you hear that? Harpuia! Come in!"

He could faintly hear static coming from the com over the screech, but nothing else.

Fefnir turned his head and forced his eyes open to look at Zero.

Zero's mouth was moving, but his face was eerily calm.

_Wh-what the heck is he saying? What is going on!

* * *

_

"It's them…again."

Zero watched as, at last, the source of the noise finally shimmered into view before them.

It was a reploid. Female, humanoid, but large…much larger than any human. Her synthoflesh was a light shade of grey and her pale blonde hair and her prominent green eyes bugged grotesquely out of the unpatterned, haphazard holes in her green helmet. She wore an ancient design of greenish armor. Her long, black mouth showed two rows of uneven sharp teeth as she screamed, her red snake's tongue seeming to leap from between them. Zero thought at first that all of the screaming was coming from her mouth, when he noticed similar mouths set in the synthoflesh in the crooks of her elbows and her knees, as well as the stomach area. He shuddered at the sight of her, and at the energy signature she gave off.

The maverick continued to scream for another few seconds before finally lowering her voice little by little until the Jin'en forces took their hands from their ears.

Fefnir immediately snarled and raised his arm cannon to fire at her, but she merely screeched with laughter and snapped her jaws mockingly.

"Yoooouuuu…." she screamed in a high, cruel voice. "…really think you could hurt me with that, little Guardian? Your fire will not harm a creature of the lightning! Now stand down and hear what I say before I destroy you!"

Fefnir growled menacingly and began to charge his cannon. Leviathan flipped open her own com, shouting into it for Harpuia to respond, but there was no answer.

The female maverick screeched briefly again from all six mouths, making Leviathan flinch, before speaking again.

"Do not bother trying to use that while I am here to scramble it, girl! I am Urbalos Banshii…and I greet you in the name of my Master, the greatest living reploid. He offers you all the chance to surrender now and join our forces so we may seek to scour the world of the human infestation once and for all, as one race under the maverick name. If you refuse we will crush you all and bury this city in the desert! Surrender or die! Those are my Master's options!"

Zero did not move, but Fefnir bellowed "You can tell your 'Master' to take his options and stick 'em up his exhaust port, ya old hag!"

He fired his arm cannon at the hideous maverick. Banshii took the blast without moving.

Nothing. No effect whatsoever.

She screamed again and disappeared, her high, cackling laughter still floating in the air.

Zero remained silent, staring at the spot where the maverick had just floated.

"_Zero!_ What the heck is the matter with you?" Fefnir growled at him. Zero ignored him.

It was getting closer, he could feel it. And it was growing. Before it had been sleeping, holding itself back to avoid showing its true power.

But it was awake now.

And it was crying out for blood.

"They're coming…" Zero muttered. "This truly will be a nightmare…"

"What's that?" Fefnir asked, sounding half-annoyed and half-curious.

Zero pointed. "Look…"

A great, dark shape had reared up like a black arm over the maverick army. They had halted…and the dust had settled. There was no sound. No sound at all.

The great dark arm seemed to rear back, and then fold back over.

It suddenly erupted a pillar of black fire that reached high into the air.

Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting crash from above, and a giant fireball erupted from the wall, gouging a great hole in it and raining fiery debris upon the Jin'en below.

"TAKE COVER!" Fefnir bellowed over the din as he, Leviathan, and the other Neo Arcadians scattered to hide beneath the lower walls.

Zero was dimly aware of the crash of burning rubble and the screams around him, but he still did not move.

_Mavericks…once again._

He slowly looked up and gazed at the approaching nightmare back from the dead.

* * *

"Fefnir! Leviathan! Answer me!" Harpuia bellowed into his wrist-com from his turret as he watched the burning rain fall upon the Jin'en defenses. 

_It's not working. Something has to be jamming our transmissions…just like when I fought Stymphian and couldn't scan him. Gah! We need to find what's causing this and stop it or we won't stand a chance! No bombs, no reinforcements, and no battle recon! Darn it!_

He looked up, and, sure enough, the maverick forces were breaking their front ranks and charging. Harpuia could see, faintly, the airborne mavericks speeding towards the city walls.

Harpuia drew himself up to his full height and bellowed down to his waiting soldiers and Jethawks.

"_TAKE FLIGHT!_"

There was no more time to worry about his comrades below, and he could only hope they survived that weapon and stood to fight as he soared off the turret and led his men to battle.

The fighting had begun.

* * *

A wave of memories crashed through Zero's mind. It was, without a doubt, the same maverick signature he had felt years ago, and though it tightened a knot in his digestive unit, he stood stock still unable to move as he finally understood the terrible power of what he was dealing with. 

It was evil, not just misguidance or insanity as was the case with Elpizo and Copy X. This was utter and pure evil. The evil which had spawned the mavericks…and the one he existed to wipe from the face of the world. He felt a part of his soul…which had been dormant since his revival, waking up and fueling him once again…

…As he stared.

The mavericks…the true mavericks…were back.

And he, Zero, the maverick hunter, would fight them again. He drew the Z-saber and activated it. He leaped over the edge of the wall to the ground below, dimly aware of the shaken Jin'en emerging around him.

They were coming, running and jetting across the ground…to their doom at the hands of the Crimson Hunter. Zero raised his Z-saber and howled his battle-cry which had not been heard on the face of the earth for one hundred years.

And then he charged.

* * *

Author: As usual, please R and R. Yes, this chapter's a bit boring, I know, but I've run out of time. Don't worry, the next chapter will make up for it. I apologize again for this taking so long, and I hope the extra one-shot I posted in the R section makes it up to the readers. Next chapter: The battle is on, and mavericks appear left and right. Why aren't the Neo Arcadian coms working, and can they fix the problem in time? And the Resistance arrive at the southern front…along with a surprise. At last, Zero and the Guardians are on the same side and the war between the Resistance and Neo Arcadia is over, but will that come at an even greater cost yet? Time will tell. 

Oh, by the way, for those readers who like that sort of thing, here's some short 'outtakes' from the story.

* * *

"Let's just sit down, okay?" Zero turned and moved towards his bed and Ciel followed him, and at that moment, the invisible spirit of klutziness chose to make its grand entrance into Ciel's life. 

Ciel caught her foot on a protruding steel tile, and she fell forward and landed with a smack on the floor, her arms flailing for some kind of support…and support one found.

Zero turned to look down at Ciel, trying hard not to laugh. "Umm…Ciel, aren't you supposed to ask me out first?"

"Huh?" Ciel looked up to see her hand resting firmly on Zero's rear end.

_(Author: Cut!)

* * *

_

As he thought about it, he quite failed to notice that his arm had somehow instinctively found its way around Ciel's shoulders.

She jerked slightly, but even though she stared at Zero, she did not pull away immediately.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Zero suddenly realized where his arm was and jumped.

Before he could say anything…

The door slid open and Zero's Resistance fangirls jumped into the room. "Zero! We though we heard…"

They all fell silent at the scene before them, Zero on his bed, in his pyjamas, with his arm around Ciel.

The scream of "YOU PERVERT!" could be heard miles away as Zero crashed through the wall of the base, spiraling through the air and screaming like a girl until landing with a splash in the outdoor women's bath. (Author: First prize to the one who recognizes that scene)

_(Author: Cut!)_

Zero pulled himself out and scratched his head, confused. "Since when do we have an outdoor bath at the Resistance base?"

* * *

"Sage! Where are you...Whoa!" Leviathan jumped aside, narrowly avoiding the flying Guardian. 

"W-what's with him?"

Sage sped on, eventually coming to the end of the dorm corridor. He sped right up to the window…and crashed right into it, rebounding and falling to the floor. "Ow!"

The maintenance bot controller grinned as he witnessed it over the surveillance. "There! That diamond reinforcing should teach him to start opening the thing first…"

_(Author: Cut! Medic!)

* * *

_

"Sage!"

Leviathan ran to him and hugged him around the side.

"F-Fairy, I don't…please…get a grip." Harpuia weakly tried to swat her away.

Leviathan grinned evilly. "Don't think so, Sage. I've got just the thing in mind to make you feel better…"

_(Author: Cut!)_

Levi reached for the operating tray next to her, keeping her eyes on Sage, and picked up…a scalpel!

Harpuia and Fefnir both gasped in horror as Levi held it over his face.

_(Author: Cut!)_

Suddenly, she looked down at it and frowned. "Oops! Silly me."

She set it down and picked up the object next to it…a bright blue…

"Ready for your spongebath, Sage?"

Fefnir fell over, and Sage just passed out to get out of the silly situation.

_(Author: Cut…please.)

* * *

_

"Ummm…Sage?" Leviathan asked hesitantly, blushing and looking to one side.

"_What!_"

"Look down, mate." Fefnir looked like he was tearing up in hysterics.

Sage looked down, and then to his armor and exclamation-marked boxers hanging on the chair, and his face turned bright red.

"You sure flying turtle wouldn't be better than flying hawk, mate?" Fefnir asked, grinning, causing Sage to faint from embarrassment.

_(Author: Cu-…hahaha! Cut!)

* * *

_

Author: Again, please R and R. Love you all, readers.

Jim'Van


	5. Dark Field

Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman Zero, or any of its characters. I do however own any other characters in this fic unless specifically stated otherwise. If I owned Ciel, she would be older, if I owned Leviathan, she would be sexier, and if I owned Omega, he would be a stuffed toy.

Author: Hey, I'm finally back! Rejoice readers, for ye know that Jim'Van hath not forgotten thee. I've just been really busy here in Vietnam! If any of my readers are fellow expatriates, you'd know what I mean. Had to laugh. Apparently the other day in the city street, my friend asked the locals in Vietnamese 'where's the street?' but she mispronounced it and instead asked for a bowl of noodle soup! Heh, between work, appeasing my students, and visa runs, I'm lucky I still have time for this. My visa run to Bangkok was a killer. I mean how many times to do I have to shout '_Mai Ow' _to scare them off? But I'm back home now. I could make excuses, but I think my readers know me well enough to know I want to please, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope you enjoy this.

* * *

Zero: Heart of a Hunter

Chapter 4: Dark Field

Perhaps Fairy Leviathan was lucky. Perhaps the blast had missed its target entirely, or maybe for some darned reason the enemy had thought they would not shoot directly at her. Perhaps some higher being had decided it wasn't her time to die. In any case, the outcome was the same. Leviathan cursed as she hit the ground after her leap, crashing into an undignified tumble down the slope created by the rubble to slam headfirst into the ground. Stars erupted into her vision behind her eyelids and she groaned and struggled to her feet.

_I wasn't built for this kind of battlefield. Just what are we dealing with here?_

She swayed on her feet and pounded her head with the heel of her hand to clear out the dizziness before opening her eyes. Her eyes widened as she looked up and saw the burning scar left in the outer city wall by the weapon, whatever it was, that the mavericks had fired.

She suddenly heard a loud battle-cry and turned to see Zero, standing with his Z-saber drawn and a look of pure rage on his face.

Zero dashed forward to meet the oncoming maverick forces jetting towards them. Leviathan's eyes widened as she saw Zero was taking on a whole legion by himself.

_Crazy! Even I couldn't…_

Leviathan stopped thinking as she heard Fefnir, bellowing with fury, charging past her after Zero. He was covered with dust from the blast, but his eyes were fierier than ever. "No fair! Leave some of them for me, Zero!"

_Oh, brother._ Leviathan, in spite of the situation, rolled her eyes before hefting her spear and running after him. No turning back now. They were engaging the enemy. An enemy, however, that she was justifiably nervous about. Everyone knew the reploids of yesterday were much stronger than the present models. No doubt about it; this would be a bloody battle.

A few feet more and they would crash headlong into them. Leviathan slowly felt her cardio-pump start to pound with the anticipation as her artificial hormones fed energy to her muscles and filled her with cold strength.

She leaped high into the air, spinning her spear around her head. She heard the hum of rushing air as her spear flung its signal and gathered all the moisture in the air, and then, on the last spin, she flung her spear far into the enemy ranks. The spear glowed dully as it left her hand, and then erupted into a brilliant whirlwind of blue ice that spun with the spear to the enemies, some of whom watched it with wide eyes.

There was the howl of icicles screaming through the air, the shouts of pain from the mavericks as there were stuck full of the icy projectiles and immobilized, and finally screams as the ice whirlwind shredded them to bits. The first rank broke, and the mavericks halted in their tracks as Fefnir and Zero bore down on them.

Fefnir turned to Levi and grinned, giving her the thumbs-up.

Leviathan's spear phased back into her hand as she landed. She inwardly smiled. _I hoped my first test subject for that new weapon would be Zero…but I guess the ancient mavericks wasn't too bad._

One large, elephant-faced reploid survived long enough to pull an icicle out of his leg before the Z-saber came screaming down onto his head, cleaving him into asymmetrical halves. Zero was there, and the ferocity of the counter-attack had momentarily stunned the approaching maverick ranks. After the reality set in, many of the mavericks roared and screamed, coming straight for Zero, who waited for them, his jaw set hard and teeth bared in a snarl.

But the other ranks were still advancing, making for the walls. Fefnir had joined Zero now, body-slamming an approaching rank of humanoids and dragging them all down into a thirty-on-one wrestling match on the ground. As he proceeded to toss the mavericks into the air, Leviathan could see his forehead gem glowing as he gathered his energy.

There was suddenly a shimmer in the air, and Fairy jerked her head back just in time to avoid the laser blast which screamed over her shoulder.

_One of them has picked me up for a target…_

She swiveled her head to see where the blast had come from, and, not wasting a moment, shot a blast of ice in that direction. The mavericks had arrived, and the two guardians and Zero were now in the thick of it. The Jin'en were still either pulling themselves out of the rubble or advancing behind to meet the other maverick ranks. Leviathan knew she would have to be good to push back all these mavericks with both Zero and Fefnir occupied.

Spinning her spear around her head again, Leviathan gathered her strength for a great leap. She knew she didn't stand a chance in a slugging match on the ground, and she needed to keep her distance and wear out her opponents. The shots came as a rank of mavericks charged towards her. Keeping her cool, she used the head of her spear to bat away the shots that came too close. The mavericks drew closer, and Leviathan promptly stuck out her tongue at them before leaping into the air. Twisting over backwards, she yelled and thrusted herself towards the ground, spear extended.

* * *

Sage Harpuia was annoyed. There was still no contact from the ground and who knew if he was ever going to get support from there. But it would apparently be a while before he found out as he still had enough to deal with at the present altitude.

Reaching out, he tore out a sizeable number of the eagle reploid's remaining wing feathers and kicked him away down to the burning wall below. This was not too good. The airborne assault had moved far ahead of the ground forces and most of the Rekku were all occupied up in the air, and Harpuia knew there would be no help from the walls until the Rekku either cleared the area…or were pushed out of it. The slam had come fast and hard, and Harpuia had no time to pull a formation together, but, luckily enough, the approaching mavericks had not seemed to have any particular formation either, and so the airborne armies were locked in a number of semi-private combats. But, more often than not, that ended up being the situation anyway in the enormous sky. He knew that it would be a different matter on the ground though, and that they would have a hard time winning without air support and mines, and that could not be done with the coms down.

The sight of a bird-shaped bot flying towards him broke him out of his thoughts. The creature flew full-pelt towards him. Harpuia inwardly sighed before lifting a saber and, with one vertical slash, cutting the bot into perfect halves on its own momentum.

_Not too smart are they?_ he thought, pulling away from the falling debris. _Stymphian was stronger than that. Maybe this isn't as serious as I th… _"Ugghh!"

Yet again, his thoughts were broken by the unpleasant sensation of a plasma blast hitting him in the side. Harpuia didn't feel much through his armor, but the force was enough to knock him head over heels in mid-air. Turning vengefully, he spotted his assailant: a large, bat-like reploid with two long brown ears on either side of a long, thin face sporting red eyes and fangs in a long, crooked jaw.

"Sage Harpuia, I presume…" the thing screeched at him in a high, whining voice. "Face your final battle! And death at the hands of Vanumin Battce!" The monstrosity unfurled it's large, clawed bat wings, revealing long, thin black arms folded over a thick, armored torso and short, stubby legs.

Harpuia snorted. "Better reploids have said that before, demon!" He lifted both his sabers in a fighting pose and flew straight at Battce.

* * *

Zero growled with frustration as he jumped atop yet another fallen maverick to slash down at the next rank. They just kept coming. A large humanoid reploid stumbled towards him, raising a buster cannon. Dashing head-on into the reploid's attack, Zero pulled out the new Recoil Rod Cerveau had given him.

_Time to see how well this thing works._

Zero had never used such a weapon before, but the technique and tactics involved in doing so seemed to come to him naturally. He flung his forearm forward, the charged rod tip extended, and a great beam of plasma shot from its end, ramming neatly into the reploid's gut.

The maverick stiffened, repli-blood spurting from the slots in its helmet, but even though mortally wounded, he managed to train his buster on Zero's face. Somehow knowing what to do, Zero threw down the tip of his other charged rod and released the energy…

…And sailed about thirty metres into the air. "Whooooaaah!"

_I've got to talk with Cerveau about this. Something a little less airborne would be better._

Chancing a quick glance around as he charged the weapon again, Zero magnified his vision and processed the information as quickly as he could. He became even more dismayed.

He could just see Fefnir, in an even worse situation than his own. The Red Guardian was completely surrounded by enemy mavericks that had broken ranks and advanced toward him. He seemed to be holding his own, incinerating any that got too close, but Zero knew it would only be a matter of time before he was forced to pull away, or eventually someone would hit him…

Zero shrugged inwardly and refocused his gaze on the horizon as he felt gravity catch hold of him. The mavericks were practically upon them now. Zero knew the Jin'en were still behind and would take longer to pull themselves together. It appeared it was up to him and Fefnir to hold them back and prevent them from pouncing on the dazed Jin'en likes wolves onto a dying elk. Zero noticed, just for a moment, that the gigantic black siege engines the mavericks had built were lumbering closer.

Zero recognized the large juggernaut that had thrown that fireball that destroyed the Jin'en fortifications. It was larger than all the other engines. Large treads bore it slowly over the ground. Its enormous bulk seemed to carry long tubes that Zero suspected were cannons. The top, however, shot the sunlight back into Zero's eyes. Glass. Behind this cockpit, there was a large metallic arm, folded back on itself in a shape that reminded the crimson hunter of one of Chow's chicken wings. He could just see the great translucent pipes spiraling along the arm, feeding the fire into the great weapon.

He groaned. That thing would reduce the walls to rubbish in a matter of minutes. He had to do something. Zero flipped and spun in a barrel roll to slow his descent before pulling his legs under him. He landed neatly on top of another maverick, casually thrusting the charged recoil rod through his metallo-skull as he did so. The reploid twitched and lay still without even letting out a death cry. Casting his gaze up again, Zero crouched and pulled out and ignited his enhanced shield boomerang. Inputting commands quickly, he slid the boomerang out over the field to cut the feet out from under the unsuspecting mavericks before straightening up and charging the rods again. The mavericks were aware of him now and turned in their ranks to face him.

Sensing a dog pile not unlike the one Fefnir was embroiled in was imminent, Zero readied himself. He had to find a way to push them all back, but keep them on him. The first lupine maverick leapt for him, snarling, only to be met clean in the chest by the charged rod. The funny thing was, the maverick just hung there in mid-air for a moment before being slammed backwards as if struck by a high-speeding boulder. Crashing noisily back into the ranks behind him, the enormous werewolf reduced a fair number of smaller reploids to scrap as he tore a trench through the ground.

Zero grinned inwardly. _Yet another hidden capability. Cerveau might just be a genius after all._

But his grin was short-lived as the other mavericks lunged for him. Zero charged the rod quickly, but it still was not fast enough to push them all off at once.

One…two…three trenched. But the fourth managed to catch Zero's arm and give it a painful twist before he could bring it to bear on him. Zero grunted but held onto the rod as the reploid shoved him down. The other mavericks howled with delight and leaped for the fallen red reploid. Big mistake.

Zero smirked as he saw the mavericks pouncing. Using his bracelet, he summoned the shield boomerang, which promptly whipped out of the scrimmage, drawing howls of pain from hamstrung enemies. Catching the shield boomerang in his free hand, Zero swung it through the air, neatly severing the arm of the large reploid twisting his wrist and sending it spinning around him to slash at the drawing ring of leaping enemies. Bloodied and wounded bodies crashed down onto Zero, who gradually fell under a groaning pile of mavericks. Zero quickly clasped his forearms to his thighs, feeling the magnets slap the recoil rods to them, and then drew his Z saber, charging it almost immediately. Zero was suddenly aware of a face inches from his own, leering at him though also twisted in pain. The upper half of it was humanoid, but the lower half was a gross steel imitation of a human jaw with a row of grey shark's teeth gracing the upper rim.

Sickened by the sight, Zero pulled back his head before the creature could snap at him, and, not wasting a second, swung up his charged saber.

_CRRRAAACCKK!_ The resulting geyser of energy threw the mavericks piled on the crimson hunter sky-high.

Not waiting for the rain of burning metal to follow, Zero kicked up onto his feet and ran for the juggernaut, cutting through random mavericks in his dash. He had to disable the great metal monstrosity now before it could fire again. If it broke down the walls, the defenders would have no chance. He could only hope Fefnir and Leviathan succeeded in holding off the front ranks…

* * *

Fefnir growled as he swiveled around in a stupid kind of twirl to blast a ring of fire at the mavericks around him, trying to back off to the front to cut off their advance. He was breathless and bleeding in several places from lucky scrapes and stabs which had caught him, but he had yet to take a serious injury.

_Dang it! I'm supposed to be leading troops to push them back, not throwing a ballet dance to push them forward. We're bang in the thick of it now! Just where did Zero get to? That clown better not have gotten himself licked!_

No enemies were daring to come closer to Fefnir while Sodom and Gomorrah were torching anything that moved, but they were breaking ranks and running for the walls and the Jin'en. Fefnir cursed himself for ever charging into their heart of numbers. Turning slightly and looking up, he saw something that made him grin.

Leviathan, her jaw set and sweat pouring down her face, was vaulting backwards and throwing down ice beams at the front ranks of the maverick army, slowing them down by freezing the ground out from under their feet. Fefnir couldn't be sure, but by the shouts of surprise and rage he was hearing from behind him, he guessed the mavericks were slipping up and tripping over each other.

_Not too bright, are they?_ _Except for this one…_He thought dryly as he turned another foolhardy attacker into a screaming torch. _I know the ancient maverick virus infections were supposed to have reduced their smarts quite a bit, but if they were all this bad then Master X should never have had any problem taking them down._

_Oh, who the heck am I trying to kid? These guys are just grunts. There've gotta be more powerful mavericks than this lot. That Banshii sure fooled me, and whoever built those weapons and disabled our coms sure knows his stuff…_

Fefnir growled in irritation as he heard still only dry static emanating from his helmet as he tried to contact Harpuia. This was bad. If they didn't get their links working, they couldn't do any 'buddy-lasing' for the Rekku Jethawk aircraft, meaning the troops couldn't illuminate their ground targets, and there wouldn't be any airstrikes against the enemy…or mine detonations. Without those, they would never push the enemy back, even if the Jin'en did pull themselves together in time. And if that siege engine fired again…

Fefnir suddenly felt an enormous explosion of energy ripple through his body and sensed his Giga unit was fully charged. The gem in his helmet was glowing bright red. Sensing his chance, Fefnir activated his Blazing Fury and set Sodom and Gomorrah against the ground, pounding their barrels like jackhammers into the turf. Enormous, sandy-yellow, pointed stalagmites erupted from the earth and tore the enemy apart, ripping through all the platoons in a thirty-metre radiusas if they were made of paper.

Fefnir grunted within his Fury, and, clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes tightly shut, pushed harder, throwing out even more of the lethal spikes from the earth and impaling dozens more. Shrieks erupted from every direction, but, one by one, the stalagmites disintegrated and fell back to the earth.

Sensing his Giga unit emptying back to zero, Fefnir took a deep breath and withdrew his gun barrels from the ground. Sweating and scowling, he straightened and swiveled round.

It was like standing in the middle of something like a cross between a scrap yard and a mountain avalanche. There wasn't an enemy standing for quite a ways in any direction, but the mavericks just ahead were howling with fury and charging forward towards Fefnir.

The Red Guardian cursed and dashed across the broken landscape for the front. He could see the engines and tanks drawing closer now, and they were almost in firing position. No doubt about it, this was going to get ugly. Or uglier.

Leviathan suddenly leaped in from out of nowhere and stood in front of him. Her breastplate was cracked again, and a long gash graced her right thigh.

"About time you got back, you moron!" she spat, stamping her foot petulantly. "What took you so long! I had to hold them off all by myself! And where's Zero? They'll start blasting at the walls any minute!"

But Fefnir didn't answer her. He was looking over her head, grinning at the sight of the Jin'en, finally upright and alert, marching towards them with Pantheon reinforcements, greeting their general with a loud cheer as they saw his Giga handiwork.

"FORM UP TROOPS!" Fefnir roared at the top of his respiration chambers, startling Leviathan. "Move to intercept enemy movement! Defensive gridline! Let's show these mavericks what the Jin'en are made of!"

Another loud cheer erupted from the remaining Jin'en, only to be drowned out by a sudden horrible crunch and a loud bang as a cannon shell exploded behind the two Guardians.

Fefnir saw a flash of color behind his eyelids as he and Leviathan were catapulted through the air. Then darkness.

* * *

_I hate to say this…_

"REKKU! RETREAT!" Harpuia bellowed, swooping through the air after sending yet another reploid corpse spiraling down to the ground. "RETREAT!" _How humiliating. After this is over, I've got to work on restoring multi-frequency communications._

It was no good. There were large, buzzing bots in all directions, and Harpuia could make out, faintly, one of his soldiers nearby getting pecked to death by one of the bird-bots' razor-sharp beaks while two others held him in place.

Lifting his saber, Harpuia swung a sonic crescent at the bots, flicking his wrist to angle to beam at the bots, but to miss the soldier. The three avian monstrosities blew into pieces on impact, and the soldier swayed and began to fall. Harpuia quickly dived and caught the wounded reploid.

Harpuia gnawed his lower lip in frustration as he glanced around. The Rekku who had caught his order were falling back, trying to beat off the persistent bird-bots that harried them. The wounded soldier looked up at Harpuia, his eyes unfocused with pain.

"Sir," he rasped. "Sir, they've killed me…"

Harpuia shook his head. "Keep your wits about you, soldier. We'll get you to a medic."

The reploid gagged and coughed up a mouthful of repli-blood onto Harpuia. "Sir…do me a favor…drop me."

Harpuia glared down at him.

The reploid coughed again, a louder, tearing cough. "Sir…I can't survive this. My systems are shutting down. Please sir, I don't want to slow you down. You must survive…and I'm dead anyway. Drop me…please!"

Harpuia grimaced, and then slowly nodded. _Brave boy._ "So be it, loyal soldier. You were an example to all the Rekku…" And with that, Harpuia slowly let go of him.

Not waiting to see what happened to the soldier, Harpuia turned and dived back towards the ground at full speed. _No need to get to the walls. The gunners know what to do now even if the coms are down. Once they see all these bots, they'll blast away. I've got to see what's happening down there. There must be something that's blocking our transmissions. If only I could get rid of it, we could get my Jethawks in the air…_

Squinting, Harpuia could just make out a large battlefield below.

_Jin'en…so they engaged the mavericks after all. But where's…_

Just then, Harpuia saw something that twisted his synthoguts in a knot.

Fefnir was lying, motionless, in the middle of a circle of Jin'en medics. Harpuia didn't know if he was alive or not. Leviathan, still alive but obviously out of action for the moment, was sitting beside him as the medics worked on her legs.

The green reploid arced and landed on his feet beside them, startling the medics. Leviathan looked up at him, her face unreadable. Harpuia's eyes widened as he caught sight of long, blackened burns gracing her legs and lower body, and a large crack in her breastplate. He caught sight, briefly, of some of Leviathan's vital circuitry exposed beneath the torn armor and ripped synthetic flesh and repli-blood on her right leg. Leviathan, though it must have caused her pain, immediately twitched her thigh away from him so he couldn't see it any longer.

Harpuia raised one eyebrow at her, before glancing down at Fefnir, who was even more badly burned than she was. However, Harpuia knew that meant almost nothing to him. Fefnir's condition was obvious enough from the fact that his eyes were rolled up into his head, and repli-blood was pouring from his nose, mouth and ears. He had been hit by something big…and loud.

"What happened?" Harpuia asked Leviathan urgently.

She squinted at him for a second in confusion, and then shook her head, pointing to the side of her helmet.

"Er…she can't hear, sir…" one of the medics said hesitantly as he applied a synthoflesh graft to her thigh. "Her tympanic sensors were overloaded by the explosion…"

Harpuia glanced at him sharply. "What explosion!"

_BOOOM!_ The ground shook from, an explosive impact a few metres away. Harpuia grimaced at the sound and put his hands to his tympanics as a rain of dirt fell on them from the explosion.

"That explosion, sir…" supplied one of the other medics in a deadpan tone of voice that made Harpuia glare at him.

Sage turned and glanced back over at the field. The Jin'en were standing in a defensive crescent formation, trying to front the approaching mavericks. _Stupid. There's nowhere near enough Jin'en for that._

Though he could see that for the moment, the Jin'en did not seem in serious trouble. The tanks were still too far away to get clear shots at them, and the wave of mavericks seemed to be breaking against them instead of flowing over them. Harpuia could dimly see his own ground officer, Flauclaws, and the cat reploid, Fealikks, fighting alongside them at the front.

Sage straightened and addressed the medics. "Get Leviathan back into battle as soon as possible. Provide her with a vibro-sensor to compensate for her tympanics. Take Fefnir back behind the lines until he comes to. Also, deliver my order to the troops stationed at the walls to prepare for a retreat back behind them. We won't last much longer out here with our coms down."

"Yes, sir." The medic officer nodded and saluted. Indeed, Sage was their commanding officer with Fefnir down.

Harpuia took to the air. _No matter what, that fire-missile weapon must be destroyed before we go anywhere. I guess I'll have to do it alone, even if it means my death…

* * *

_

Zero rushed up to the juggernaut's tread, Z-saber in hand. The mavericks, it seemed, had enough sense to get out of his way now. Zero grinned. _Just like the old days._

The Crimson Hunter intimidated the mavericks to no end. Slashing, pouncing, and clawing, and then reaching out to tear what was left apart, Zero had a trail of dismembered mavericks following him, and the remaining enemies ahead were scattering, howling in terror.

The great steel juggernaut was in front of him now. He could see a large series of letters welded into the broad side of its hull. _Hellspitter…how original_, Zero thought dryly.

Cranking his EAS, Zero vaulted high, landing on top of one of its treads. The guard saw him, but was not quick enough to bring the barrel of his rifle to bear on Zero before a fist shot out and neatly crushed his skull. The Crimson Hunter glanced up at the cockpit of the _Hellspitter_, wondering if it was possible to capture the thing and turn it against the mavericks rather than destroy it. That possibility however, was virtually non-existent. Zero shook his head to himself. He wouldn't know how to drive this thing, and vehicles, minus chasers, had never been his style anyway. Zero trusted only the skills he was comfortable with in the thick of battle, for which some hunters had applauded and others had called Zero a complete idiot.

_Meaningless now_, Zero thought as he shook his head again. He looked at the cannon mounted behind the cockpit, frowning as he saw the pipes beginning to feed liquid fire into the nozzle. _One quick saber thrust into the main ducts and…_

BOOOOM! The crimson hunter jumped backward just in time to avoid a plasma blast hitting the hull underneath him. He threw up his gaze in time to catch a stubby, double-barreled nozzle vanish into the cockpit through a closing hatch.

_Driver…he's seen me, so…_

Zero looked up again, and sure enough, the driver had decided to try another blast before he could interfere. The great catapult-shooter was unfolding itself, and some thick liquid substance, probably condensed napalm or something, Zero reasoned, was rushing through the translucent pipes even faster.

Not wanting to waste another second, despite the many shouts from hostiles climbing after him, Zero kicked in his EAS again and darted across the tank hull towards the cannon's base platform.

It was turning slightly, obviously as the gunner, wherever he was, was trying to decide where to line up the shot. Not pausing to think and trusting his intuition, Zero made straight for the base of one of the pipes upon the unfolding arm, pulling out and igniting his Z Saber.

Zero grit his teeth and cranked his EAS frantically. _One…two…_

He sprang off the hull of the _Hellspitter_, plunging the tip of his saber into the pipe and drawing it up on his own momentum, and in the next moment Zero's feet planted and he was running almost vertically up the side of the unfolding arm, his arms braced, dragging the Z Saber up through the pipe as he ran.

Great, steaming spurts of the rushing liquid burst through the long rent in the pipe, gushing out to land on the ground and the mavericks below. They shouted in surprise and pain as the boiling chemical burned them. One large, mammoth-like reploid screamed in surprise and accidentally let go of a blast from the flame thrower in its arm as it fell. Next thing, there was a brilliant roar and a blast of smoke, and many mavericks screamed as they were burned alive.

The great rush of black smoke from the ground stung Zero's sensitive optic camera membranes and irritated his respiratory chambers as he ran further. Sensing gravity starting to catch hold, the crimson hunter threw all his energy into a kick on the hull and a twist of his saber, and then he was sailing through the air to the top of the cannon, the pipe below him severed and slowly unfolding and spiraling down from the arm to tumble over the hull onto the ground, drenching more mavericks in the deadly napalm mix.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline and triumph as he saw his tactic working, Zero flipped over in his jump and landed neatly on top of the cannon's large circular nozzle, face-to-face with the shocked gunner.

Zero's hand flashed up his Z saber, but the gunner, knowing he was doomed, faced the wall quickly. His headset shot out an illumination laser and he slammed his fist immediately down on a large button on the console in front of him. The nozzle started to shake violently as the remaining pipes let out a large hiss and their flow quickened.

Not wasting a second, Zero slashed at the reploid and the momentum of the badly-aimed swipe threw him bodily off the top of the cannon.

_Dang it! He targeted the walls again…got to shut it off before it fires…_

Casting his gaze around the top of the gun, which was starting to shake violently and hum, Zero spotted the pipes converging into the cannon nozzle structure a ways further down the arm. Hefting the Z saber again, Zero started to edge down the cannon arm. _One foot down, next one, hold onto the edge, another foot…_

Zero could hear the howls of triumph from the mavericks below as they saw _Hellspitter_ preparing to fire. The mavericks were all around from the sounds he heard. _They must've pushed out the Jin'en. Now we're in trouble._ Zero scrambled down the arm with greater urgency.

He finally reached the pipes, and lifted his saber high…

_CRACK!_ There was a sudden thunderclap, and Zero gazed in amazement at the smoking, scorched steel just beneath his right foot. There was a high-pitched nasal laugh in the air, and Zero looked up again.

The maverick, Urbalos Banshii, was hovering in the air before him. Her wide, mad eyes glittered evilly as she screeched with laughter.

"Nice try, little reploid, but did you really think I would let you do that!"

There was a sudden shudder in the cannon arm, and a massive jolt as the arm kicked back. Then there was an ear-splitting roar that blew stars into Zero's vision and bruised his tympanics.

Zero, his balance upset by the kickback, swayed and lost his footing and slipped over the side of the arm, left dangling precariously from one hand while the other gripped his saber in case Banshii made a move. Twisting his head towards the walls, Zero saw the great flaring mass speeding towards the city.

_No! The walls won't take that one!_ Zero growled in frustration. There was an enormous crash as the fireball hit the eastern wall…and then it slowly began to crumble. The rumble of it disintegrating was suddenly drowned out by maverick cheers.

Zero glared up in rage at the green-grey maverick above him, who was grinning maliciously down at him.

"Hard luck, 'legendary hero'! Of course you know that those pesky Neo Arcadians will never win now…" she left out a high screech. "Go ahead, little Zero. I love seeing the despair and defeat in my opponents' faces. _Yeeheeheehee!_"

Zero said nothing. It was true the defenders could not hope to hold out now with the walls breached. But he, the crimson hunter, would never give up. As long as he was there, Neo Arcadia could still take down many of the mavericks with it. He braced himself and began to haul himself back onto the arm, slamming one foot up into the side for more leverage.

But he was suddenly aware of the deep _whoosh_ of wings and the clatter of clawed feet on the arm above him, and looked up to see the hag grinning down at him.

"I think not…" she said simply, and smiled a greenish, many-fanged smile at him before kicking out with one foot.

Zero grimaced as the foot connected painfully with his left shoulder, scraping the armour and jolting his collarbone. His neck began to ache as he felt the syntholigaments anchoring his shoulder rip open. Zero wavered and hung by his left hand again. He could feel excruciating pain in his shoulder, but he did not let go. Gritting his teeth, he reached up and swung his saber at Banshii's legs.

There was a high squawk and Banshii was in the air again, not having seen Zero was armed. Screeching loudly, the maverick flew up high, glaring down at the crimson hunter. All six of her fanged jaws clacked menacingly as thin wisps of greenish energy circulated her body. She snapped her wings close to herself in a spiral, and, with one more high screech, dived down and shot at Zero with all fangs and claws bared.

Zero braced himself for a leap to avoid her. He didn't know how he would manage to survive the fall, but being caught in her dive was certain death. He slipped his saber into his palm and clamped his other arm on the steel, lifting up his legs for a kick off the cannon. Banshii came closer, one, two…

Then there was a loud, surprised squawk and a puff of grey feathers as a speeding green bullet shot out of nowhere and slammed into Banshii's side, sending her tumbling over in mid-air.

Zero had seen and felt that impact before.

"You took your time, Harpuia!" Zero bellowed up to the Guardian above him, who was standing upright in mid-air with his arms crossed.

"Why don't you try taking on the whole air force yourself, Zero?" Harpuia growled as Zero hauled himself over and onto the cannon.

Banshii screeched in rage, searing Zero and Harpuia's tympanics. "So be it! Die together, reploids!" She shot back at them. Harpuia and Zero dodged aside, Zero taking a courtesy swipe at her side as she passed. He felt the blade scrape her armor, but not penetrate.

Harpuia spun on his toes in flight and threw a sonic crescent at Banshii, who turned, and without pausing at the sight, swung her arms together into a cross, blasting a similar sonic beam. The two crashed together with a loud thunderclap.

Zero grimaced and clutched his ears. _If this goes on, I'll go deaf…_

"Harpuia…" he hissed at him. "Forget the sonics and lightning. She has the same power. We'll have to take her down the other way…"

Zero clicked the second button on the hilt of his Z saber. The belt catch on the lower end of the hilt turned…to the ice symbol. The thrumming blade of Zero's saber turned white-blue and began to radiate an extreme cold. Harpuia grimaced and looked away at Banshii.

The hag glared balefully at them before screeching and clapping her claws together, sending a ring of lightning arcing for them both. Harpuia did not move, the attack would not harm him and was not meant for him. Zero however, was not so protected, and leaped up into the air to avoid it.

Right on cue, Banshii braced her body and blasted forward at Zero. Charging his saber, Zero waited in his fall…

_CRACK!_ With a blast of ice, Banshii sailed backwards, slamming painfully against the cannon with ice clinging to her armor and jaws. Coughing and swearing through the ice embedded in all her six mouths, Banshii struggled out of the arm and glared at the crimson hunter with mixed fear and hatred.

_She's afraid._ Zero thought with satisfaction. _That's nothing new. The mavericks always needed roughing up a little before they understood what they were dealing with._

Harpuia, without changing expression, bent and flew straight at Banshii, igniting his sabers. Not having a short-range weapon, Harpuia probably figured she would be easy to take down if trapped and forced to slug it out.

Not quite. Banshii suddenly screeched again loudly. Harpuia's face twisted in pain at the noise, but he didn't stop and bore down on her. The hag barely managed to twist away before Harpuia's left saber stabbed into the hull where her stomach-mouth had been a split-second ago. Banshii twisted over again to punch at Harpuia with her other claws, but he was ready, lifting his right arm to catch it.

Banshii screeched in pain as her claws were cut off, before twisting away and taking flight. Harpuia paused, pulling his saber out of the cannon.

Zero was surprised, briefly, that he had never before noticed that Harpuia was left-handed. Brushing aside the thought for another time, Zero cranked his EAS and leaped for Banshii, landing neatly on her back to slow her down.

She screamed in rage and twisted madly as Zero wrapped his arms around her neck, being careful to avoid her mouths. No such luck. She twisted around in the air and Zero found himself staring into the hideous greenish-grey face. She snapped her fangs menacingly at his face.

Zero jerked his head back, only to be greeted suddenly by a terrible pain in his stomach.

Banshii had obviously expected him to pull away from her, and when his stomach jerked forward to pull his head away, she had bit with her stomach-mouth, penetrating the armor and sinking her fangs into his synthoflesh. Screeching with glee, Banshii bit deeply into Zero's stomach.

Zero's vision clouded over and blood spurted from his savaged belly, but he wasn't going to fall. Not yet. He could hear Harpuia shouting, jumping off the cannon and taking to the air.

Twisting again, Zero shoved himself behind Banshii, ignoring the tear in his stomach as he pulled his flesh from her fangs. As she screeched, her took her by her lank, sparse hair and jerked her head back, wrapping his other arm round her neck in a headlock and his legs round her upper thighs to jerk her body taut.

Banshii screeched and twisted madly in the air, trying to loosen Zero's grip as he struggled to hold her straight.

"Harpuia!" Zero shouted. "Do it now!"

Understanding immediately, the Guardian flew straight for the pair of them with his saber ready to plunge into Banshii's exposed chest. Banshii screeched her loudest yet. Her scream sent tongues of fire through Zero's brain. He grimaced, gritted his teeth and banged his head repeatedly against Banshii's, partly to distract himself and partly to attempt to shut her up. His stomach was burning, his shoulder aching, and a splitting headache was the last thing he wanted now.

Her scream grew louder and louder…

And then suddenly it was over. Harpuia's hilt protruded from Banshii's ribcage.

Harpuia, his jaw set and eyes cold, glared at Banshii as she raised her face and looked at him, a faintly confused look in her bulbous eyes, before she sighed from all of her six mouths and began to fall.

Harpuia reached out and grabbed Zero neatly by the shoulder as the maverick's body fell to the carnage below. He grimaced. "That shoulder is a little sensitive, Harpuia…"

The Green Guardian tightened his grip, rather deliberately, Zero thought. "Maybe I should just let go of you then, Zero? I do hate carrying passengers you know. It slows me down…"

The crimson hunter shook his head. "Not yet. Got to deal with that thing once and for all." He pointed his ignited saber at the _Hellspitter_ again. "Set me down there, Harpuia."

Not bothering to argue, the Guardian swooped down to the cannon and dropped Zero into the gunner platform again. Zero sprinted over to the main pipe insertion again, charging his Giga unit…

Zero's aura flared brightly. Harpuia, sensing what was about to happen, flew upwards for several metres, watching.

Zero grinned. "Get ready…"

His ignited Z-saber turned bright white and blazed spirit fire as Zero lifted it overhead. "SHIROIYUHII!" Zero roared, bringing down the burning blade.

There was a great flash of light tearing out across the sands like a blazing white sun. The pipes ruptured and burst apart, spraying liquid fire everywhere. The liquid immediately ignited and exploded, throwing the White Sunset explosion even further and setting the whole _Hellspitter_ ablaze. The cannon head shook and groaned, then there were loud cracks from the head and the sound of tearing metal. The whole cannon head splintered and broke off the arm in a blazing white mass.

Mavericks howled in fear and scattered as the lump of burning white fire landed with a loud crash on the rock below, crushing and incinerating the mavericks who weren't quite quick enough.

The burning white sun then slowly vanished, like a candle that ran out of wax.

* * *

Harpuia lowered his arms from his eyes and gazed, stunned, at Zero's handiwork.

The whole _Hellspitter_ was burned and blackened, the arm torn and twisted and the cannon lying in big pieces on the turf below. The glass cockpit at the front was shattered and the driver nowhere to be seen. The ground around the ruined engine was broken and black, littered with charred maverick corpses. Large sand beds were now little more than piles of steaming glass.

Harpuia suddenly, and to his own amazement, felt a twist in his stomach. _Zero…_

Harpuia gazed down. So this was how much power the legendary hero truly had. Harpuia had once in the past seen Zero greatly weakened by his loss of purpose and destiny in the year following his defeat of Copy X. At that time, Harpuia had wondered just how much power Zero's heart and sense of purpose had strengthened him in the battle against Copy X, and later, against Elpizo. Harpuia had known that in terms of raw power, both those foes should have defeated Zero easily.

But now, as he hovered over this field of destruction, he realized that Zero's inner power was far greater than any other he possessed. Driven by his passion and sense of self, Zero had done more than any other arrior Harpuia had ever known.

Be that as it may though, Harpuia felt faintly ruffled. If Zero had always had this much power at his disposal and used it against him, or Fefnir ,or Leviathan, he would have destroyed them easily. Then why had he not? Mercy perhaps? Or pity? Or lack of interest? Whichever way, Harpuia, for reasons understood only by warriors, felt sulky and faintly insulted that Zero had never unleashed the power he saw now in all their duels.

But where was Zero? He could not see him anywhere in all the smoking ruin…

Suddenly, Harpuia was aware of his wrist-com crackling and he flipped it open. _My com! It's working again! _

Harpuia suddenly had a flash of realization. Banshii…her sonic powers must have been what was interfering with their com link.

But then a movement in the rubble caught his eye. A thin, red and black arm poked out from under a steel slab and pushed it up. Zero stood up in the midst of the rubble, his armor scratched, cracked, and blackened by fire. Harpuia swooped down and landed neatly in front of him. He looked at him, and saw that despite the enormous effort his Giga attack must have taken him, and the damage to his armor and battle wounds, his face was stoic as ever.

"Interesting Giga unit, Zero. I wish you'd let me know about this sooner though…"

Zero's face actually split into a broad grin, much to the Guardian's surprise. But Zero's mirth vanished as quickly as it came as he turned his head to look at the broken walls of the city in the distance. "Well…that's enough fooling around, Harpuia. Let's get back to the walls, shall we?"

Harpuia eyed him coolly. "You don't honestly expect me to _carry_ you all that way, do you, Zero?"

Zero shrugged. "It's the fastest way, isn't it?"

Harpuia nodded slowly. He knew as well as Zero did that dignity came last in these situations. In the blink of an eye he was in the air behind Zero, wrapping his arms under Zero's armpits. "Hold on then, 'legendary hero'…but I swear I'll get you for this one of these days…"

Harpuia could not see Zero's face, but he was sure he was smirking. "Big talk, big mouth. But I hear it all the time…"

"Oh shut up! This is no time for jokes."

"You started it…"

And the Green Guardian and his awkward passenger were flying through the air.

* * *

Leviathan stumbled to her feet awkwardly, leaning on her spear for support to avoid putting weight on her injured thigh. The pressure bandages would compensate for the weak metallo-bone, but it still hurt to shift the synthomuscles. Her helmet was gone now, and her long blue hair cascaded down her back in a sparkling blue sheet. She was very proud of her sparkling hair, which ran in a perfectly straight wave, and she hated the idea of it being tousled in the battle, but now that she was wearing a vibro-sensor headset, she could not wear her helmet.

The grey headset fitted over her head like a pair of earphones, but extended cups with vibro-probes into her ears to attach to her tympanic integrator circuits. It was very uncomfortable, but it was better than being deaf. She could now derive sound from the vibrations in the air around her until her auto-repair systems could fix her tympanic sensors.

The Jin'en had been pushed back into the city walls to defend the breach the fire-cannon weapon had made. Luckily enough, most of the rubble from the explosion missed the emergency fortifications they build on the other side of the walls, and after a long fight, the Pantheons had then been successful in pushing back the maverick ranks from the breach. However, Leviathan and the other commanders knew it was only a matter of time before the enemy would manage to squeeze their artillery into gap. But so far it was a static defense and the enemy had pulled back to regroup. Parked chasers for a speed attack were parked nearby.

Fefnir had been stretchered into a nearby repair facility (by four large reploid carriers), and Leviathan was attempting to reorganize the frenzied Jin'en to a better defensive position. But many of them were driven by battle anger now and merely wanted to go out and fight again. Leviathan muttered curses to herself under her breath. Her own Meikai forces were much better disciplined than this…

There was suddenly a crackle from her wrist-com, which echoed hollowly through her vibro-sensor. She immediately flicked it open in surprise. "Sage?" Her own voice sounded hollow to her.

"_Leviathan! Our communications are working again! Order the artillery to detonate the mines immediately! Let's take out what we can! I'm calling for a bombardment by Jethawk also! Do it!_"

"Understood!" Almost jumping for joy, Leviathan cut him off and immediately signaled the detonator troops.

"Detonate all mines, Captain! Right now!"

"_Yes, ma'am!_"

The ground shook and Leviathan was aware of a large gasp of air and vibrations of bursting explosion traveling through the air, amongst what she was sure were screams. She covered her ears at that, even though she knew it wouldn't do anything to stop her sensors. _War. Such a horrible business. I think I liked the war with the Resistance better. At least they had the sense not to die…so much._

There was a hum in the air, and Leviathan opened her eyes to see Sage, and, her stomach jolted, Zero landing before her.

Leviathan's face twisted as she tried not to laugh. The sight of Harpuia carrying Zero in mid-air was ridiculous.

Harpuia looked at her frostily. "Yeah, Leviathan, I know what you're thinking. It was just the fastest way back for us. End of story."

Leviathan merely smirked at Sage in a way that told him that if they ever got out of this battle alive, she would never let him forget it. She then lowered her eyes and looked at Zero. He was looking worse for wear. His armor was blackened and bloodstained, cracked in several places.

"Quite a battle eh, hero?" she asked him cockily. "I thought a siege would be no problem for the great Zero…"

Zero looked at her before shrugging and jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Not really. I only just destroyed the weapon that would've sealed the doom of Neo Arcadia and everyone in it, Leviathan…"

Harpuia jerked as though he were about to argue with that, but his eyes rolled off to one side as though he decided against it and he addressed her instead.

"Leviathan, did any mavericks get into the city?"

She shook her head. "None yet, Sage. The forces we have here are holding them back for now. But once they bring in their tanks and missiles, we're toast!"

Harpuia lifted his arm and tapped his wrist-com. "Maybe not. With my Jethawks ordered to take them apart, we should be able to hold them off at least a while longer. Probably a whole day or so if we need to with the forces we have."

Zero looked up. "I'll be here. You just hold position and let me do the rest."

Harpuia glared at him. "Zero, don't try to fool me. I can already tell you're tired. And believe me, while I wouldn't mind if you got shot down through your own stupidity, I hardly believe that's the way to win this battle!"

Zero glared back. "Don't give me that 'commanding' treatment, Harpuia. You forget what you saw outside."

Leviathan stood back, enjoying the sight of Harpuia and Zero about to go at it, but then the Jin'en cat reploid, Fealikks, loped up to them, fixing Zero with an accusing stare. "I trust, Master Harpuia, that now you see that this maverick will not win this battle for us. We have been pushed back behind our own walls and Master Fefnir is down. Now will you get rid of Zero?"

Leviathan groaned. This cat reploid was impudent, stupid, and very ignorant of true power. She wanted to pick up her spear and thrash the feline, not the least because he was convinced he knew zero better than she or Sage.

Obviously, that was Sage's thought also, as he grit his teeth and stared sideways at the reploid. "Shut up." He said shortly.

Fealikks twitched, probably in anger, but he could not resist speaking. "Master Harpuia, I implore you-" He began in a not-so-imploring tone. "I believe Zero is working with them. For all we know, he could be planning to carve a path into the city for these mavericks. He might plan to allow them a victory to ensure the Resistance's victory over us! Please, Master…"

WHAM! Zero's fist connected sharply with the side of Fealikks' helmet with a vibro-shock that almost made Leviathan's teeth rattle in sympathy for the cat as he sprawled in the mud.

Cursing, Fealikks leapt to his feet with feline agility and reached for his weapon, but he was greeted by the glowing tip of the Z-saber pointed straight at his throat.

Harpuia placed his hand on Zero's wrist and pushed down the saber, but Zero let him. He was just glaring and not saying a word. Sage stepped between them, squared his hands on his hips and glared at Fealikks.

"That will be two more weeks of garbage collection, Fealikks. And immediately after your four weeks is over, you will leave immediately to take command of our guard-post down in the Red Dust plains south-east of here. The scorpions and cactuses might need someone to watch over them for a few years…"

Again, Fealikks did not turn a hair at this. He merely glared at Zero before turning and loping away.

Harpuia turned, jaw set. "As for you, Zero…"

Zero put up his hand. "Save it for your troops, Harpuia! I don't care what you have to say. I'm here for a job."

Silence. And a staring contest. Leviathan swore she could see little flickers of lightning passing between the locked pairs of eyes. She decided to head it off before she went nuts.

"Now, boys…" she said, stepping between them. "…there are enough enemies outside to worry about."

Sage immediately looked away and began speaking into his wrist-com. The Blue Guardian chuckled to herself. She always knew the right way to get Sage off was to dangle duty in front of him. She turned to look at Zero, who was following her wave of sparkling hair as it whipped out of his sight.

She stuck out her tongue at him. "What would you do without me, Zero?"

"……Plenty, probably."

She pouted at him. "You don't mean that…"

Zero glanced briefly down at her leg as he saw her leaning on her spear for support. "Are you hurt?"

She looked at him levelly. "Why do you think I'm wearing this stupid headset? I was taken out by a cannon shell!"

"Can you still fight?"

"_That's_ all you're worried about, Zero?"

He looked up at her, one eyebrow raised. "You're no good here if you can't fight…"

She gritted her teeth. "You know, Zero, you can be absolutely infuriating sometimes. _Well,_ _of course I can fight!_"

He shrugged. "Good."

Leviathan cursed under her breath. Why wouldn't he ever be friendly?

Just then, a humanoid soldier ran over, panting and out of breath. "Master Harpuia! Master Harpuia!"

Sage looked up from his com, annoyed. "Stand to attention, soldier!"

The exhausted reploid blinked, and then stood up and saluted, still breathing hard. Harpuia strode over to him. "Why are you interrupting me now, soldier? This had better be good!"

"I-I do have good news, sir! B-but…there's also bad news…"

Staring at him, the Jade Hawk seemed to soften slightly. "At ease. Report."

The soldier relaxed and began to speak hurriedly. "The good news is we just received a transmission from the southern walls, sir, now that our coms are working again. It seems the Resistance arrived an hour ago, and they wish to contact 'Commander Zero'…"

Harpuia smiled slightly, turning his head. "So they did come then, Zero. Very good. Continue, soldier."

The reploid fidgeted a little before continuing, as if deciding on his words. "…But the bad news, sir…is that the mavericks arrived sooner than we anticipated. It seems they were picked up by land transport and are attacking in vehicles as we speak. The Resistance are fighting with us, but they are suffering heavily. Mostly because so many of them want to protect their leader and will not take the offensive…"

Leviathan saw Zero twitch sharply. He strode over to the soldier and seized him by the shoulders. "_Who's_ leading the Resistance at the front!"

Zero's voice sounded panicked. Leviathan sensed that he probably already knew the answer from the look on his face, but he needed to hear it outright. Sage was also gaping at the messenger in horror.

Then it dawned on Leviathan just as the words slipped out of the frightened soldier…

"M-miss Ciel, sir…"

Zero looked up and snapped his gaze sharply to a parked chaser.

Harpuia nodded in understanding, looking worried. "Go. We'll hold them here, Zero."

Kicking in his EAS and bowling the poor soldier over, Zero leapt up into the seat of the chaser, leaned down into the screen, and threw the ignition catch. With a low hum and a rush of air, the chaser hovered off the ground and blades of plasma arced from the suspensor pads. Zero kicked the accelerator, blasting energy through the jets and disengaging the immobilizer. The chaser shot forward towards the broken wall.

Leviathan, not quite sure why she was doing it, acted on an impulse and vaulted through the air as the chaser passed her. Ignoring the shouts from Sage, she landed neatly on the back seat of the chaser behind Zero.

Evening was coming and the sky began to darken as the chaser sped through the gap…

* * *

Author: There. After almost a year, it's done. Flame away. Call me 'lazy git' or 'slacking moron' all you like. Next chapter: Zero on the southern front, Battle Commander Ciel, Leviathan's flirting antics ruffling Ciel's feathers, and a startling revelation about the enemy…and a betrayal.

As always, please R and R. Love you all readers.

Jim'Van


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